Time to Burn
by leosbabygirl84
Summary: When Itachi broke his ties to Konoha and effectively burned all of his bridges to the life he once knew there, he imagined that he would never have to make a hard decision such as the one that lay before him now. ItaSaku fic of what could have been and what he wished could be.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Time to Burn

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_A/N: I usually put my notes at the end of the story but I would like for you to listen to the song "Time to Burn" by The Rasmus. (I own nothing, credit goes to them, not me)  
_

_This story was inspired by this song so if you listen to it before reading the story, you can see where my mind was going with this. It is a beautiful song and it fits Itachi's internal struggle perfectly. _

_I am leaving this as a one-shot but depending on reviews I might add to it. Please let me know if you could see this story going any further?_

_Anyways, enjoy the story… and please review._

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Smoke filled the surrounding field. There were large craters of missing rockbed beneath his feet.

There had been a battle here not that long ago.

The dark hooded figure cast his senses out to form a radius around him to seek all living lifeforms.

There was a spark of life about a mile south; the chakra signature was faint but at least he could pinpoint its exact location.

The shear destruction of the area made him curious as to who fought here.

His sandals barely disturbed the earth beneath him as he followed the path to the faint chakra signature that was before him.

The man arrived in a clearing that was decimated and felled trees lay everywhere.

He took in everything that he saw around the young girl covered in blood. There were bodies all around, the faint traces of a strong genjutsu still hovered around the area and the smell of death lay around him. What he imagined to be her katana lay a couple feet from her, and it was still dripping with what looked like fresh blood.

He noted that there was a severe wound on the girls back that was spilling crimson blood all around her.

She would die if he didn't help her, but what was she to him?- A kunoichi that had battled some rogue shinobi and he had managed to cross the path of the aftermath… that's all that she was…

He took a step forward and came up close to her, but still well out of striking distance.

His eyes memorized every detail about the kunoichi that lay dying on the ground.

She let out a groan of pain and then slowly opened her eyes.

He looked straight into the same green eyes of the girl who was supposed to have been his brother's teammate. The shock of pink hair triggered all the memories of watching his little brother train from afar.

She wasn't supposed to be ANBU. She had been weak, last time that he saw her. She was the same as all the other girls in the village, hopelessly infatuated with his younger brother. There had been times that he heard his own brother call her an annoyance himself. Could this be the same girl?

He thought about the destruction that he had witnessed in the last 2 miles.

Could this girl have been capable of doing so much damage by herself?

She continued to look at him and kept a steady gaze on his own crimson Sharingan.

He knew that she was losing a lot of blood from the wound on her back. It must have been a pretty strong hit to pierce ANBU armor.

She was going to pass out any minute but she tried her hardest to stay conscious. Her hands came up and she started performing a series of complicated hand seals.

He immediately recognized those seals and lunged to prevent her from doing the last one.

He was Uchiha Itachi and he knew about this self-destruction jutsu.

Only high-ranking ANBU officers were taught this in case they were captured, or as a last resort when absolutely outnumbered and with no possibility of beating an S-ranked criminal like himself.

As he lunged at her, he pinned her hands, one over her head and the other near her hip.

She groaned as her wounded back hit the ground, but still said nothing.

He had somehow managed to look directly at her and was able to cast a strong genjutsu to knock her out.

Her limp body stopped fighting and lay still beneath him.

It had been a long time since he had felt the warmth of a woman and her soft body lay pressed up against his, causing certain thoughts to invade his mind in an instant.

He cleared those thoughts away and quickly picked her up and disappeared into the forest to look for a place to set her down and treat her wounds.

He found a large cave that twisted and turned in the darkness that emitted no chakra signatures.

As he took the unconscious kunoichi into the depths of the cave he noticed her delicate features, she had a soft jaw line, delicate eyebrows, eyelashes that fanned and framed her eyes. He remembered those green eyes that dared to stare straight into his Sharingan as she accepted her death and would die for her village as she took him out, along with him and everyone and everything in a 50 yard radius. He continued to study her soft lips and almost had the urge to touch them.

He thought what on earth possessed him to do what he was about to do.

Uchiha Itachi gently laid the girl down and carefully removed her armor. He placed all of her ANBU supplies and weapons near a corner of the cave and he took out his water bottle and cleaned out the wound. Once it was cleaned to his satisfaction, he noticed that it would not stop bleeding and he did the only thing that he could think of to save this woman's life.

He took out his kunai and used a small katon jutsu to sterilize it and heat it up.

Itachi was glad that she was unconscious but she still managed to wriggle in pain as he seared the skin closed and stopped the bleeding the only way that he was able to.

When he was done, he took out some bandages from her pack and a burn salve that he found. He applied the salve and wrapped her wound as she continued to sleep under the effects of the genjutsu. The blood had stopped and she now lay quivering on her side, yet still asleep.

He thought about leaving her then.

She was ANBU, she could take care of herself. He knew what it took to be part of the elite group of individuals that donned masks to hide their features and took the most difficult missions for the sake of the village.

Something, however, pulled him back to where he sat and he continued to watch her.

He was analyzing the destruction and magnitude of the power needed to cause the damage that he had witnessed. This girl intrigued him, and maybe that is why he took off his robe and placed it on her sleeping form.

That night he noticed that she must have started to develop a fever and he knew that she would be in trouble if she didn't wake up soon. Itachi thought to himself about how he could take her to the nearest hospital… but that was in Konoha… He couldn't go back there... Not anymore.

That was a life that he had willingly given up in hopes of saving his little brother. He gave everything that he was, stood for, and loved for Konohagakure, yet he would never be welcomed within its walls ever again.

What should he do with this young woman?

He laid some traps and placed a protection seal around her as he headed outside to go to the spring that he saw on his way in to get more water.

In his hands he carried his own water bottle and the pink haired woman's.

Itachi maintained his senses alert and knew that she was still asleep within the cave.

On his way back to the cave, he looked around and found some herbs that would help with fever and pain. He also took some firewood and was able to capture a wild hare for dinner.

There was no reason to fear this young woman. She was unconscious and had lost a lot of blood. He felt that her chakra was low and would take time to restore naturally. He didn't know much about her but he was careful in his handle with her person.

When he got back to their camp, the woman still laid asleep on the ground but she snuggled into his robes and looked very much at peace. The tea with the medicinal herbs was brewed and he gave her small sips every couple of minutes.

The small campfire allowed for some light and heat in the deep, dark cave and it only seemed to enhance how fragile this woman looked.

He somehow stayed and cared for this pink haired woman who meant nothing to him other than being the teammate of his younger brother.

In his mind he heard the voice of his mother say to him, _"Son, she is part of our village. The village that we swore to protect. You need to help her, even if she doesn't know your true allegiance."_

Itachi sighed and went to check on her again before daybreak.

The next day he continued to care for her. During the worst of her fever she became restless, so he took her in his arms and when his fingers moved a stray lock of hair from her face she murmured, "Please… stay…"

He placed her down again and tried not to think about what her words meant.

Surely they were not meant for him, maybe they were for his brother, maybe for a lover that she had in Konoha?

That night he saw her shivering even though he had left his cloak around her small body.

While he knew that it was a bad idea, he went to the side of the sleeping woman and wrapped his arms around her. She stilled as his warmth seeped into her and he heard her sigh in contentment.

His Sharingan memorized every detail, every movement, every breath that the young woman took as if it would be the very last thing that he saw.

That night, the moonlight over the top of a crevice in the cave was the only witness to the gentle kiss he placed on her cheek as she fell into a deeper sleep.

When the young woman opened her eyes the next morning, she was looking across a small fire where the one and only Uchiha Itachi sat silently looking back at her.

There was an incredible pain in her back and she felt a bit weak and out of chakra.

She could make a run for it and probably get 5 feet away before he killed her, or she could wait and see what the infamous Uchiha did next.

He looked at her for several more moments and then said, "You were injured, I closed the wound as best I could. The herbs to the tea I have given you are next to the cup, so you could check them yourself. You have been asleep for the last 3 days. There is food in that sack and your water bottle has been refilled."

He continued to study the emotions passing through the young kunoichi's face as she opened her mouth to say something but found that she either lacked the energy, or the ability to speak to him, after the shock of what he had just insinuated.

Uchiha Itachi had just nursed her back to health and protected her for the last 3 days while she laid unconscious.

The pink haired woman suddenly found her voice and whispered, "Thank you."

He was torn and so was she. Neither was willing to acknowledge what had just happened in that cave so the S-class missing nin from Konoha stood up picked up her supply bag and threw it near her as he turned to walk away. His robe still lay around the woman, but he made no move to get it from her.

She wanted to ask why? Why... had he helped her out and... well.. she couldn't really think straight as she held onto _his_ robe as if it were her lifeline.

Her curiosity was begging her to tell him to wait and ask him to stay with her a bit longer, but she held her tongue.

He was a member of Akatsuki, the black robe with red clouds that was in her grasp claimed him to be... She couldn't let her guard down with him around.

The elder Uchiha walked outside the cave and sighed as he made his way back to the forest.

His thoughts kept going back to the woman who he left behind in that cave. Sure she was awake and should be able to care for herself until she regained enough chakra, but her sleeping face kept interrupting his thoughts. The way that she unconsciously curled into his body seeking the warmth that his arms provided was something that he would never forget. Her pink soft lips flashed before his eyes as he remembered how he managed to stop himself from taking a taste when she laid her head on his shoulder and placed her hands on his chest, as she drifted off to a deeper sleep the night before.

He continued to travel in the opposite direction and that night, he laid underneath the stars and thought of his village and how things could have been different for him and his brother had his clan and the elders of the village chosen a different path.

He knew that he was sick and would die soon. The years of going without any medical intervention had taken a toll on his body, but his sheer will made up for it as he continued to pose as the ruthless killer that everyone thought him to be. His only goal was to see his little brother once more. Itachi was just waiting for Sasuke to find him and finally give him the peace that he desperately sought.

There was no way that he could think of what life he could have, no… should have had.

Could he have had a woman to share his life with? To have his children? To love?

No, he had burned that bridge a long time ago and there was no going back to that.

He had irrevocably given up that right to that kind of life on that fateful night.

All he had now was his memories and the haunting green gaze of a beautiful pink haired kunoichi that had found the strength to want to sacrifice herself in defense of her village and loved ones. The same kunoichi who curled up to him in her sleep and sought comfort in his arms.

She should be on her way to Konoha by now and would have reached at least the closest outpost.

She could have her injury properly looked over and hopefully someone could heal that horrendous scar that now marred her beautifully soft skin.

The missing nin took off in the direction of the cave after sunrise to check if she was ok and had indeed left to seek help.

When he arrived he was surprised to see her sitting down in a meditative position near the fire. She opened her eyes to look at his approaching figure.

Their eyes locked for a second and when he turned to leave, she whispered, "Please… Stay…"

Her words struck his heart and he stilled immediately but managed to turn around after a couple of heartbeats.

He stared at her, his Sharingan blazing and said, "Why did you not leave?"  
She responded, "Why did you come back?"

They both said nothing but continued to study each other.

She broke her gaze first and looked down at her hands.

He took a step forward and stopped to gauge her reaction.

A part of him wanted to go and another part wanted him to stay.

She continued to look down and she said, "Uchiha-san… Thank you for saving me… If you would allow me to repay you for your troubles…"  
He looked at her and said in a cold voice, "I don't need your money and you owe me nothing."

She looked up at him, eyes full of wonder, fear, awe and stinging with unshed tears.

He observed her once more and she said, "You could have left me to die, or finish the last seal. You might have gotten away… Please… I don't understand your actions but I… I am grateful for them nonetheless. I think that I somehow felt that you were ill when you must have touched me to bring me here. I am a medic nin and have the ability to feel other's medical needs by a single touch."

The woman allowed the information that she had just said to sink in as she said, "Please allow me to heal you this once… and… I can feel that I have settled my debt to you. I will make sure that I don't mention your involvement at all."

Itachi shook his head and said, "My fate has been decided by the gods and if this is their punishment I must accept it and bear it."

The kunoichi sighed and said, "And if the gods deemed for you to meet me and save my life so my actions could be a form of payment for your deed? This could be a necessary course for you to live long enough to…"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence because he had her pinned to the floor, his face hovering over her.

'_Live long enough_' he didn't need for her to finish that sentence but it was as if something snapped inside him, as if this was a sign that he needed. Could he allow himself this, so he was able to live long enough to give his brother the closure that he needed?

She still managed to look directly into the crimson of the Sharingan and Itachi lost control for a fraction of a second as his will crumbled as he gazed into those deep green eyes that stared back at him.

He never had felt this way before and he slowly closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of the woman that lay beneath him.

Her breath hitched as she took in his expression. Uchiha Itachi looked vulnerable, he looked lost for a second. She couldn't believe that he was allowing her to heal him. There was a feeling that she couldn't describe building inside of her, she wanted to place her hands on his chest, but he kept his hands over hers. She slowly let her chakra flow into him through their intertwined hands and began to heal the damage to his internal organs.

There was so much damage that she wondered how this man could even stay upright. She was amazed by his will to stay alive, even with the damage that he carried internally. Her compassion towards anyone that was ill or injured won out and she pushed back the fear that she had for this man. She knew that he was an S-ranked criminal that was said to have killed his clan in one night... yet his actions here clashed with what she had thought of him to be in her mind. He had cared for her and protected her. She concentrated her healing chakra at his center and she felt no malice or an aura of hate surrounding his heart, she felt resignation, guilt, sadness, and love. Yes, she felt it there and it startled her.

She finished healing him as best she could and then withdrew her chakra and stayed absolutely still as he opened his eyes once more.

This time they were not the crimson of the Sharingan but the same onyx color that belonged to her estranged teammate Sasuke.

His eyes somehow softened and he took one last look at her as he leaned into her ear and said, "I wish things could have been different and we could have met under different circumstances. Thank you…"

With those words he breathed into her neck and caught her lips as she gasped.

His kiss was soft and gentle, full of an unsaid emotion that neither could have guessed at that time.

She suddenly kissed him back and when she tangled her fingers into his hair and let out a shaky breath he was lost in the depths of her green eyes.

His own fingers tangled into the pink locks and he kissed her again but with a deeper urgency and passion that he didn't even know that he possessed.

She softly moaned into his kiss and he broke the kiss to leave small little kisses and bites along her neck to her collar.

She groaned out, "Itachi…" as he held her close to his body and made sure that she could feel what she was doing to him.

He suddenly remembered why he couldn't take this path, how this road had been closed to him because of the actions and orders that he followed.

He breathed into her neck and said almost defeated, "I can't… I shouldn't… I don't deserve this…"

She pulled his face to hers and whispered, "Please… stay… "

He kissed her as if she were made of porcelain and said, "I can't… put you in danger… because of my past… Forgive me…"

With those words he disappeared from the cave and ran at unimaginable speeds in the opposite directions of the pink haired woman that he had in his arms seconds prior.

The young kunoichi sat up and touched her lips and called out to him, "Find me again… Itachi… "

Both of their lives had changed and neither was willing to say to anyone how they had stolen each other's hearts on a cool day in September.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Chapter 2

There was silence as Itachi left.

The young kunoichi sat in the same place that he left her. She wondered at what had just happened as she tentatively touched her lips and closed her eyes at the memory of the kiss that she just shared with the Sharingan wielder of the Akatsuki. There was no doubt in her mind that no one would believe her if she recounted her tale.

She picked up her things and left the cave that had been her refuge for the last couple of days.

Haruno Sakura, apprentice to the Godaime Hokage, and ANBU Medic Captain raced to the nearest ANBU outpost after the departure of Uchiha Itachi.

The things that were going through her head were as clouded as the grey sky above her.

She couldn't stop thinking about what he said and… his kiss.

Could it be possible that what everyone knew of Uchiha Itachi had been wrong all along?

She continued to run towards the outpost and only stopped to flare her chakra to the guard as she passed the checkpoint.

Sakura was dressed in her ANBU gear and she carried the scroll that she had been ordered to collect. The only thing that she carried that didn't belong to her was the scroll that she sealed a certain robe that could never see the light of day as long as she was in the Leaf.

It is as if that scroll's weight increased ten-fold with each step she took towards her village.

When she entered the outpost she went to the proper commanding officer to report in and inform him that she would continue on through back to the village to report to the Hokage.

Her captain's cloak covered the cracked ANBU armor and the scar that ran along her back.

She mentioned none of this to the commander as he signed her paperwork and motioned her towards a room where she could get fresh supplies and take a shower if she wanted to.

ANBU gear was stored in that room for anyone that needed a replacement of arm bracers, weapons, or extra armor. She found one in her size and restocked her weapons pouch and headed into the showers.

As she undressed, she saw in the mirror the scar that ran along her back.

There was little to do because of the cauterization but at least there were no signs of infection. She concentrated her chakra to her back to begin to soften the scar tissue so she could try to mold it and not have it look so obvious.

When the scar faded enough were it wasn't raised and jagged, she turned on the shower and let the spray of cool water cover her and wash away the dirt from her body.

She noticed that most of her wounds had been treated and she mentally thanked Itachi once again.

The medic's thoughts went back to him and she began to wonder, again, what possessed him to help her.

His departing words rang in her memory, _"I can't… put you in danger… because of my past… Forgive me…"_

What could he have meant by that? There was guilt and regret in those words but his actions towards her spoke of another unspoken emotion between the two.

She wondered why she stayed and waited for him in that cave. There was a part of her that wished for him to come back and a more logical part of her telling her that she was crazy to even wish to be in the presence of a wanted criminal.

Sakura wasn't sure how, but she knew that he needed help because the entire time that she lay unconscious her chakra would react to his touch. Of course she remembered nothing in specific, so she could only assume that it was due to his touch, but there was a connection there nonetheless.

All it would take for Sakura to know what a person was suffering from, was a subconscious chakra infused touch.

Tsunade-sama had taught her this as a way to discreetly assess potential targets while she worked under ANBU. She had perfected this technique that she could literally do it in her sleep. The technique wasted little chakra and it gave her tons of information regarding the health of her patients, especially in battle situations when she needed to know in an instant what the problem was. It had come in handy plenty of times and her mission success percentages had gone significantly up because of it and earned her a position as medical captain of ANBU medic nins assigned on missions.

As she washed her hair for the second time she remembered how her chakra intertwined with Itachi's as she healed the internal damage that his body suffered from. She was a medic and it was in her nature to want to help others. When she probed into Itachi's system she could feel that there was more to him than anyone else knew of and it probably had been years since any foreign chakra had entered his system.

Itachi had been a missing nin for so many years, and that meant that he didn't have access to medic nins like any other shinobi would.

Could the same person that was in the Bingo Books as an S-ranked criminal be capable of caring for an unknown kunoichi that had tried to blow herself, and him, moments before he lunged at her to stop the last seal?

The water continued to fall on her as she wondered what his motive was for helping her.

He had spilt so much of his own clans blood, how could she even continue to think about him and what the kiss had meant?

Sakura took the soap and washed her body and scrubbed at her hands to trying to wash away the invisible blood that she had spilled by her own hand during her mission.

Her mind told her that every shinobi that ever lived had blood on their hands, had done unspeakable things in the name of their village and under orders of their Kage.

How could she judge anyone… the lives that she had already taken were adding up in her own list.

There wasn't a day in her life that she didn't remember the screams or the broken bodies. She knew what it felt like to be woken up in the middle of the night by a nightmare that replayed the bloody faces of the people that she had killed herself. Not even the lives that she saved as a medic made up for the death that she could also bring.

She realized that she wasn't that much different from him at all.

Haruno Sakura tried to hold back the tears that stung her eyes at the realization that they were all the same underneath.

Could he have done what he did under orders of someone else? If he was able to do that in one night, why hadn't he finished off the village as well? He could have taken the Hokage out just as easily.

A sudden thought occurred to her as she washed away her tears under the spray of the shower, Could the Hokage or the Elders have ordered the massacre? Everyone knew of the Uchiha's strength and skill, could it be that….

She shook her head and pushed away that thought. There was no way that a Kage could strike out against one of their own village's clans. The idea was laughable… yet there was something that didn't sit well with her still.

She turned off the shower and got dressed to make her way back to Konoha and complete her mission, her mind ever clouded by thoughts of a certain raven haired man.

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Meanwhile, in an undisclosed safe house Itachi was watching Kisame cleaning his blade from their latest mission.

Kisame looked at the Uchiha and said, "You have been awfully quiet… Is there something wrong?"  
The crimson Sharingan blazed into the blue man sitting before him and with a glare Itachi crossed the room and walked into the spare bedroom to sit in solitude as thoughts of a pink haired woman flashed in vivid detail.

He was frustrated but his outer mask of perfect calm was slightly off. Only people like Kisame who spent a lot of time with him could tell the signs of his frustration.

He sat on the chair next to the window and looked out at the sunset over the horizon.

How could he forget her, if her healing touch allowed him to move without any pain anymore. His chest didn't seem as tight as before, yet there was a heavy feeling that he couldn't explain.

He continued to stare outside and sighed as he remembered the kiss they shared.

Itachi wondered what had possessed him to do such a thing. He had always had control over his emotions and for some inexplicable reason this woman, who he knew nothing about, seemed to capture his heart in a matter of three days. He sighed and looked at his replacement Akatsuki robe and remembered how she looked in the cave. The way that she snuggled into his robe and would take in a deep breath and continue to peacefully sleep.

There had been some reports of his younger brother roaming the outskirts of Fire country, but as of now, he had no interest in what his foolish little brother did, or failed to do.

He was completely astounded as to why Sasuke would have left Konoha, and left _her,_ in exchange for the company of that filthy snake.

Itachi needed to understand why this pink haired woman had intrigued him so much.

He picked up his things and put on his robe as he walked to the room were Kisame was still cleaning his blade.

Itachi looked at him and said, "I will be gone for a few weeks, but I will return for our next mission." With those words, he took off into the dimming horizon and made his way towards the village he had not visited since Sasuke left.

He hoped that the village wide barrier jutsu formula was still the same as Lord Third had promised him. For the first time, Uchiha Itachi was going to be a bit selfish and seek out the thing that interested him most. He decided to try to figure out the enigma that was a pink haired kunoichi named Haruno Sakura.

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A/N: Sakura is confused about her feelings towards Itachi, and has to sift through what she has been told about him, what the Bingo Book says, and what he did for her in the cave. Itachi is just as confused, and is torn about what he could have had if he had stayed in the village, and the closure that he feels that Sasuke deserves. I want that to be clear because I want to do the love story justice by having them fall in love… not lust.

Yes, she was affected by his kiss, it kinda shook the foundation of her world and she is now questioning it.

sorry this chapter so short, I have an exam tomorrow morning so I need to concentrate on that.

This chapter was mainly just to have them both think about what had just happened and how they reacted to each other. Next chapter will find a certain dark haired someone back in Konoha observing the true person that is Sakura and I promise to make it longer.

BTW this is the first fic that I am writing in third person, my last fic was first person POV so there was more internal dialogue. I am working on how I will narrate this story and make it easier to read, please bear with me as I try to find my style for this fic.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 3

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Itachi ran through most of Fire Country unnoticed by patrols and other shinobi of the Leaf returning from missions. He knew every trick in the book about stealth and he was a master at it. The shadows were his friend and he embraced them as he maneuvered his way around ANBU outposts. The Village Hidden in the Leaves was not far off now and he would have to cast a genjutsu around himself to cover his chakra signature and true identity.

He hadn't made this trip in a few years, but he could remember every trap placed around the village. He came to the weakest point in the village barrier jutsu and quickly integrated some of his own chakra to create an opening for him to slip through. There was no reason to disable it and place the village in danger.

As he entered the village he changed into civilian clothes and managed to place an extremely high level jutsu to change his features that only emitted a small amount of chakra that imitated that of a civilian's level.

His now dark brown, short, shaggy hair resembled his late cousin Uchiha Shisui, and his now dark grey eyes were the same shade as his former ANBU captain, Hatake Kakashi.

No one would recognize him now and he was dressed in merchants clothing so many shinobi's wouldn't even bother with him.

He walked into the center of the village and noticed that most merchants were going to get ready for the day. He walked around many of the civilian merchant stalls and slowly made his way towards the shinobi part of the village.

That is where he caught a glimpse of pink flashing towards him over the rooftops.

* * *

Sakura had woken up to another nightmare that morning and was not able to finish her report on the medical jutsu scroll that she had acquired on that mission where she met… No, she couldn't begin to think about that now, she needed to get to the hospital for her morning rounds and then finish the report during her lunch break.

Tsunade-sama had given her a couple of days to interpret the complex jutsu in that scroll and find out if the information could be used for the benefit of Konoha.

She ran from her balcony towards the hospital over the rooftops. As she jumped from roof to roof, she felt eyes on her and looked down to see a civilian with shaggy brown hair and piercing grey eyes.

She locked eyes with him for just a second and continued on without paying any more attention to him. Most civilians often gawked at shinobis as they sped over rooftops so it wasn't out of the ordinary to see a merchant do the same.

She arrived at the hospital and had a stack of patient charts already waiting for her.

The head nurse greeted Sakura and had a cup of green tea already in her hand, waiting for the pink haired medic to start her day.

Sakura gladly took the mug in her hand and took a sip as she savored the tea and said, "Thank you so much Yuki, you have no idea how much I needed this today. So, what's on the list for today?"

Yuki sifted through the charts and handed her three and said, "Those three are the complicated cases all day, the rest are just simple physicals."

Sakura sighed and said, "Thank you Yuki, I have a report to finish by lunch, and give to Hokage-sama so I appreciate you separating my charts and getting everything ready."

The older nurse smiled at her and said, "Anytime Sakura-san."  
They went on with the morning routine and Sakura was now locked in her office finishing the report.

She was unaware that a certain set of eyes were watching her since that morning.

Yuki suddenly burst through her door and said, "Sakura-san we have some critical patients coming in, a group of genin and their sensei were ambushed but he transported them as close to the main gate before passing out. He is severely injured, they think it was a poisoned fuma shuriken that is still lodged in his back."

Sakura put down the scroll and ran out the door to the waiting team of medics who stood ready for their orders.

She immediately said, "Prepare operating rooms 2, 3, and 4 for the genin. Have Shizune-san meet me in room 1 with the jounin and prepare for poison extraction. Stabilize the genin and have them ready for me to check them as soon as I finish with the jounin."

The commotion coming from the front doors could only mean that they had arrived.

The next four hours were full of controlled chaos. She maintained a steady flow of chakra into the jounin as Shizune made sure that the other genin were stable.

Her orders were not questioned and they followed her instructions even if they sounded strange. The medics of Konoha knew that Haruno Sakura was on par with Tsunade-sama and her way of treating patients was unconventional but always worked.

Sakura was able to stop the hemorrhage. The arteries and veins were rerouted and fresh blood was supplied via the third blood transfusion. As soon as her patient was stable she quickly remove her gloves, went to go wash her hands once more, put on new gloves and went to see the next patient.

The genin was a young boy who had a burnt arm that was already being treated by the other medics and was suffering chakra exhaustion. Her next two patients weren't as critical, one had a concussion and was relatively stable, while the last one had three broken bones and a bruised rib.

She finish working on the entire team by 7:30 pm and had almost exhausted her chakra. Shizune looked at her and said, "Sakura, go home. We can manage from here, I'll make sure they are fine before I leave."

She was too tired to argue and decided to call it a night.

There were some stands still selling food so, she walked over and bought her dinner and slowly walked to her apartment.

When she got there she slowly walked up the steps put the key in the door, and was completely surprised to find Naruto out of all people asleep on her couch.

"What are you doing here, you baka!"

He woke up startled and sheepishly said, "Sakura-chan, I'm sorry... I haven't seen you in so long that I wanted to see how you were doing. I kind of came in through your window but when you didn't come after your shift should have ended, I kinda fell asleep."

It was true Sakura and Naruto hadn't seen each other for at least two months, either she was away on ANBU missions or stuck in the hospital.

Sakura felt bad about not spending time with him so she shook her head to clear her thoughts and then in a defeated voice said, "Naruto do you want to have dinner with me?"

His smile lit up the room and he said, "Is it ramen?"

She shook her head and said, "No its food, real food... with vegetables." He made a face but since he hadn't seen his sister in so long he decided to go ahead and eat some of those godforsaken vegetables.

From afar, a set of crimson eyes saw everything that was going on.

Conversations with Naruto were always light-hearted and easy-going. There was always some new joke or some story that made Sakura smile. After dinner they went to the couch and sat down to watch some television. Sakura was beyond exhausted and quickly fell asleep next to the warmth of Naruto who let her lay her head on his shoulder.

He was unaware that a certain Uchiha lay gripping a kunai and was dangerously close to launching himself through the window if the kyubi vessel touched or took advantage of the sleeping woman.

Naruto looked down and saw that Sakura had fallen asleep. He gently moved and laid her on the couch and he went to the bedroom to take out a blanket and place over her sleeping form.

Itachi watched as the blond washed the plates that they used for dinner, took out the trash and turned off the lights before he locked the door and left Sakura alone in the apartment.

He followed him until Naruto reached his own apartment.

Itachi was unsure what kind of relationship the blond had with the kunoichi and he was determined to find out.

The following morning Sakura headed to the Hokage Tower and made her way into Tsunade-sama's office. When she knocked on the door she heard a, "Come in Sakura"  
She walked in and saw the stress that her shishou was under.

Sakura said, "Tsunade-sama I have finished the report on the medical jutsu scroll. The findings are somewhat what we expected. There is a definite way to counter the poison's that we found from Mist."

Tsunade took a drink from her sake cup and said, "Good work Sakura. I am glad that we were able to send you to retrieve that scroll. I need for you to train the rest of the ANBU medics with the information that you found. I think that this will help them when they go on their missions."

Sakura bowed and said, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Oh and before you leave… I have another mission for you. It's ANBU, but you won't have to leave until the end of the week. I will need for you to take a team out with you. There are reports that you might encounter many enemies on your way. I know that you were able to handle your last solo mission, but I insist that you take a team out this time.

Sakura bowed her head and said, "As you wish Hokage-sama."

The blond leader of the Leaf looked at her apprentice and smiled and said, "Sakura, I really am proud of you. Shizune told me how you have mastered many of my techniques. I want you to know that when you come back from this mission a new position is waiting for you, if you want it."

Sakura raised an eyebrow and said, "What do you mean shishou?"

Tsunade laughed and said, "I am giving you full control over the hospital and medical care of all shinobi's in the Leaf. I will leave you to decide if you want to continue in ANBU or if you would just like to stay as a special agent that is called only when needed and work in the hospital full-time."

Sakura could not believe what she was hearing, she had worked so hard for her position in ANBU. Kakashi-sensei trained with her for six months straight and then she trained with Gai-sensei on her taijutsu for three months before she applied for ANBU. Sure her life was hectic, balancing ANBU and working in the hospital, but she didn't have anyone else to worry about, so she focused on her career. She was shocked to hear what her shishou had said.

Sakura stammered out, "T-thank you, Tsunade-sama. I will think over this during my mission and give you my answer when I get back."

As she left the Hokage tower she prepared herself mentally for a late shift at the hospital.

When she got home to change, Naruto was waiting for her at the door.

She smiled seeing him and when she got to the door he gave her a hug and said, "Sakura-chan do you want to go with Hinata and me for dinner?"

She shook her head and said, "Sorry Naruto I have to work, but I think that you and Hinata need to have dinner alone. Why do you always want to have someone else with you when you go out?"  
He chuckled and then blushed as he said, "Well, I don't know how to act around her, I kinda get nervous so I need someone else to be there so I won't do something crazy or stupid around her. She is such a sweet person and I don't want to bore her with talking about stupid things."

Sakura laughed and said, "Naruto, I think that Hinata will have a great time with just you. Now be a gentleman and go and take her someplace nice for once. You and her deserve to be happy."

He grinned and then said, "Ok Sakura-chan, but you should take your own advice. Find yourself someone to be with, I want you to be happy too. I'll see you around!"

Sakura waved him off and said, "Good luck."

She turned around and didn't see how Itachi noticed the tears that stung her eyes as she said to herself, "Happy… with someone? All I am is an annoyance."

She closed the door and went up to her room to get ready for her shift in a couple of hours.

Itachi was confused at what Sakura had said and from his hiding spot he could see how she walked through her home and gathered her things as she silently wiped her tears away.

When Sakura left to go to the hospital Itachi went into her home to check her apartment out.

As he walked through her home he noticed all the pictures on the walls. Many of them were of her and her teammates, her sensei and the jinchuuriki at a ramen shop, a blonde kunoichi that wore too much purple, and pictures of the current Hokage and her assistant. There were no pictures of a significant other in her home or anyone that resembled a love interest.

Most of her bookshelves were full of medical texts and different scrolls. The space was functional and served it's purpose but there were few things that spoke of the real person that lived there. It seemed that the pictures on her walls were the only thing that she paid special attention to, as they were all in special, or unique frames, that matched the mood on the picture.

He walked into her kitchen and found nothing out of the ordinary. It seemed that she liked to eat healthy but that was expected out of a medic nin.

Her bedroom was the next room that he explored. It was comfortable yet simple. The only thing that looked like it cost a lot of money was the mattress. He touched it and saw that it must have felt like she would sleep on a pillow. He smirked at the thought of her sleeping within all of those pillows and silky sheets.

Her dresser was simple and clean and void of any jewelry or other items that most women kept. She had a picture of her genin team placed on the dresser next to a very ornate frame that held a picture of who he assumed to be her parents. There was a vase with flowers that seemed to be the only thing that decorated the space.

Her closet was full of medical uniforms and shinobi gear. The only formal dress that she had was a light pink kimono with deep crimson cherry blossoms with a matching crimson obi.

He realized that this woman was dedicated to her job and had little time to spend on other activities but she valued her friends deeply. From what he saw from afar when she worked in the hospital, he knew that she was indeed very compassionate and worked extremely hard for what she accomplished. She didn't cut corners, was very thorough, and made sure that she gave her all in all that she did.

He had been upset when he saw Naruto with her last night but he realized that the boy didn't hold those kinds of feelings for her. He acted like a big brother of sorts and tried to make her happy when he was around her. The pictures on her wall of the both of them showed the kind of relationship that they had. She was smiling, a genuine smile that he one day hoped to see himself.

He went back to her dresser and saw the picture of when she was a genin along with the blond jinchuuriki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi, and his little brother Sasuke. He sighed and said to himself, "Foolish little brother, you had no idea what kind of woman you had here." With those words Itachi disappeared into the night heading towards the hospital where he knew that she would be for the next couple of hours.

By the time that Sakura's shift ended, she felt her muscles stiff all over and felt emotionally drained. She had lost a shinobi that was brought in too late and was already knocking on death's door. Sakura tried to save him, she gave it her all, and she had the chakra burns on her hands to prove it. The hardest part was when the shinobi's wife, now his widow, came in and sobbed uncontrollably at the news of her husband's death.

That had to be the hardest part of her job and it never got easier, no matter how many times she said it.

As Sakura walked back home, too exhausted to run across the rooftops, she remembered the way that the woman at the hospital held her deceased husband and caressed his face as she told him how much she loved every second that he was with her. It broke her heart to see such an open display of love and it was too intimate for other eyes to see. She closed the door on the couple and let the woman grieve.

When Sakura entered her home she left her shoes at the door, left her pack on the table and headed towards the bathroom to take a hot shower.

She thought about what Naruto had said to her, about finding someone to be happy with. When she got out of the shower, she pulled on an oversized shirt that Kakashi had left one time they all had crashed in her apartment because it was the one closest after they got home after a long mission. She grabbed her mission pack and pulled out a certain scroll that she had brought into the village. She turned off the lights and sat on the floor of her room. She quietly released the scroll and suddenly had the warm black fabric with its signature red clouds envelop her. She cried into the robe and began to mumble, "Why?... Am I that much of an annoyance that… I'm not good for anyone to want me?... What's wrong with me? Why can't I find someone who wants to _stay_?"

Itachi heard every single word, and memorized every single tear. He desperately wanted to go into her room and tell her that if he could he would stay. He watched as she cried herself to sleep but woke up suddenly to look around her as she clutched the robe, _his robe,_ to her chest and inhaled deeply before sealing it back in the scroll. She placed the scroll under her mattress and then crawled into bed.

After standing vigil for the last three hours he opened her window and slowly made his way to her bed. Itachi looked at the woman and moved a strand of hair from her face and whispered to her, "If I were to stay with you, would you be willing to stay with me?"

She sighed and then slightly moved to where his hand had just touched her. He smiled at her unconscious actions as he leaned in to breath in her scent and place a feather light kiss on her forehead.

* * *

A/N: So I am going to say this off the bat, I will not be going Canon on this fic. Sakura would never be ANBU in the manga, and both she and Sasuke are older in this fic. Itachi hasn't died yet (obviously), and I don't think I am going to bring Madara into any of this, or the Shinobi War, it would just be too complicated for this fic.

I apologize ahead of time because I do like stories that stick with canon as much as possible but I just won't be able to stick to a storyline and timeline that fits this fic if I do.

Also, Itachi is not a creeper, or stalker, he is just trying to figure her out, so don't worry about how he acted in this chapter. It was necessary for him to figure her out, and ninjas should be inherently a bit stalkerish (that's how they get their intel).

Thank you for the support and reviews and for all the new followers of this fic. I truly am humbled that you deemed my story worth your time.

I am also looking for a beta reader for this fic, because I want it to be written well and not have plot holes or anything that will take away from the story. If any one is interested or knows of someone please let me know.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 4

warning: some spoilers for ep. 355-360 in the anime if anyone hasn't seen it.

* * *

The following morning Itachi decided to head out into the forest to try to sort out everything that he learned during his time in Konoha.

He once again slipped out of the entry point in the barrier and closed it up again as he made his way out of Konoha's boundaries.

She would be in the village for the next couple of days and he needed this time to think about something that had bothered him for sometime.

For the first time in many, many years, Uchiha Itachi was unsure of his decision of not telling his brother the truth from the beginning..

Before the night of the massacre, Itachi was sure that he could bear the pain and hate that would be directed at him.

He believed with all of his heart, that he did what was ordered of him, because there was no other choice.

Itachi's actions were sanctioned by the Hokage and even though it was one of Konohagakure's darkest secrets, there would be no way that the council would ever let the public know.

Itachi had severed his ties with Konoha, and even though he still cared and loved his village, no one would accept him; no one but a pink haired kunoichi. The way that she sought comfort from the robe of an accused criminal told him that she had it in her heart to forgive him, if she knew the truth and if he gave her the chance.

He had sacrificed so many things and people precious to him for Konoha.

His cousin, Shisui, was one of the first Uchiha clan members whose blood was shed in the name of peace within the Leaf, under Danzo's orders.

After the massacre, Itachi needed to be sure that Danzo would not lay a hand on his brother as he grew up, so he defied his orders and threatened Danzo on exposing many of the Leaf's secrets.

Lord Third, forgave him and praised his loyalty to the Leaf, but was not able to give him any public pardon. Itachi willingly took on the sins of his clan members, as any clan head would have done, and paid for their actions by taking the blame and leaving a clean name for Sasuke to grow up under.

With Sasuke going rogue and turning his back on Konoha, he knew that the village might not be able to forgive Sasuke for defecting to Orochimaru. That part of his plan failed, and he wanted to make things right for his little brother, but his new found feelings were clouding his judgement.

All he could think of was Sakura. The way that she cared for her patients; the way that she was determined to make a difference even if no one praised her talents, or thanked her afterwards. She was as beautiful as she was deadly, and could decimate a complete area by herself, while taking on a full platoon of enemy nins. Yet, she was fragile in her emotions and kept her heart guarded.

He knew that his little brother had broken her heart because he remembered her tears and how she viewed, and spoke of herself as an 'annoyance'. Itachi remembered the many times that he heard from afar how Sasuke called her 'annoying' when they were genin.

The elder Uchiha felt that she was still hurt because of that, and that is why she focused so much on her career and left little for anyone else. She didn't want to get hurt, so she refused for anyone to get close enough to see her that way.

The only real relationships that she had, were between her and her intimate circle of friends. That was clear to see, but they could never offer the love that only a man could give a woman that he held dear to his heart.

Could he take her away from all that she knew? Could he offer his heart to her, and more importantly, would she take it and reciprocate? What kind of life would he offer her if she did?

Itachi couldn't answer any of these questions with certainty and he felt that he had no right to even ask her to give up a single thing for him.

She didn't even know him; no one knew the _real_ Itachi. That part of him was sealed away to everyone a long time ago.

He knew that she deserved someone to make her happy and not complicate her life.

He tried to follow the butterfly into the light, but this crow was cloaked in so much darkness that it would be impossible for him to be able to follow such a delicate creature.

He looked back at Konoha for the last time and made his way back to one of the Akatsuki safe houses.

Itachi found what he was looking for, and it scared him to know that the woman who was an enigma to him, was now the reason his heart would ache every time he would see a cherry blossom in the future.

There was no way that he could have such a delicate flower wither in his tainted hands.

He knew that he had begun to fall in love with this woman, and for her sake, he would stay away from her.

* * *

The dreams that haunted Sakura that week, were filled with images of a raven haired Uchiha gently pressing his lips to hers, while he kept apologizing for putting her in danger, but thanking her at the same time for allowing him to be the one to steal her heart.

She could sometimes still feel the silky strands of his hair as she intertwined her fingers in his hair and made him gasp as she would softly bite his bottom lip. She would then whisper that he was the only one that would be able to accomplish something as difficult as breaking her walls and making her his in every way possible.

Sakura always woke up from those dreams feeling extremely hot and with a heart rate that could have been seen as worrisome for a person who was supposed to be asleep.

It was always the same, and Sakura was beginning to worry about her sanity. She knew nothing about who Itachi truly was, and she suspected that the people who knew more about him would be completely opposed to her asking questions about things that weren't already in the Bingo Books.

Sakura felt that she needed to figure this out before she lost her mind. There was nothing special about the Uchiha… other than when he kissed her… something in her clicked and there was a strange feeling in her chest that ached when she ran her fingers through his robe in the privacy of her home.

Her curiosity was peaked with the words that he said to her about his past. What was it that he felt that he needed to ask for her forgiveness and keep her out of danger?

All of her thoughts came to a halt when she heard from a group of passing shinobi of Sasuke being spotted to the north of Fire country.

Naruto never gave up trying to bring him back and making him see that the path that he chose was wrong.

Sakura, however, began to see what Sasuke was becoming.

She didn't want to give up on her teammate, because Team 7 would never leave one of their friends behind, but Captain Yamato's words would always help her see reason.

She was not a genin that needed to be protected and sometimes people where beyond help.

If given the chance to help him she would surely take that option first, but if he posed a threat to her friends once more, she would not hesitate to incapacitate him. She decided to stop him even if it meant severing his chakra pathways permanently with her chakra scalpels.

Deep in her heart, she knew that she probably would never be able to kill him.

As Sakura continued to the Hokage Tower to pick up her mission scroll for her to prepare for her teams departure, she ran into Kakashi. He greeted her with his customary "Yo!" and two finger wave. She gently hit him in the ribs and said to her former sensei, "What are you doing here, Kakashi-sensei?"

He held his hand to his heart and said, "Come on Sakura, we are both jounin. There is no need for you to keep calling me that…"  
She chuckled and said, "I know… I know… Naruto and I just do it to get on your nerves, and for nostalgic reasons too. I am sorry _Kakashi_. Please forgive me for trying to make you feel _old_."

He gave her his eye-crinkle smile but said, "Now you did it, you owe me lunch for hurting my feelings."

Sakura gave him a genuine smile and said, "Ok, I'll meet you for dinner at the usual spot. I have to leave on a mission tomorrow morning so as soon as I am done briefing my team I'll meet you there, oh and don't forget to tell Naruto!."

Kakashi knew that if she was leaving early in the morning with her team it meant that it was an ANBU mission. She made it a point to have dinner with him and Naruto before she left on very dangerous missions.

That was their unspoken rule to each other. Life was too short and no one was guaranteed a return trip home after those kinds of missions.

Kakashi nodded at his former student and thought about how much she had surpassed his expectations, and how much he wished she would find someone to be happy so she wouldn't end up like him.

He had felt so humbled when she asked him to help her train before going into the ANBU trials. His little Sakura had grown up to be a very skilled shinobi who could bring life and death from a simple touch.

At first he was hesitant because he wanted to protect her from what she would have to do in ANBU, but when she told him that she wanted this position more than anything so she could train ANBU combat field medics on how to protect their comrades better, he couldn't say no.

He watched her go into the office of the Hokage and he said a little prayer to whatever power that was above, that she not be assigned _the_ mission that would take her from them. Every shinobi eventually succumbed to _that_ mission and death finally caught up to them, he prayed that it wasn't her turn yet. She still had so much to do in life, and he sincerely hoped that one day she found the happiness that she deserved.

Sakura knocked on the door and when she was allowed to enter, Tsunade told her to come inside and shut the door.

"Come here Sakura, I need to talk to you about where I am sending you and your team."  
Sakura took a couple of steps and a silencing jutsu was placed in the room.

It must have been classified if extra precautions were placed around the Hokage's office.

This room was one of the most secure in the village, it was virtually impossible for anyone to eavesdrop and obtain any information that they were not supposed to know.

Sakura took a couple of steps forward and stood before her Hokage.

Tsunade took a bottle of saké and poured herself a cup.

She sighed and said, "Sakura the mission that I am sending you has changed. There are now reports that Kabuto has captured some test subjects from a small village and they are being kept in a base to the north."

Sakura nodded.

Tsunade continued, "I will need for your team to secure the area and save as many villagers as you can. Make sure that you collect any notes or journals that might give us some insight on the experiments that Kabuto has performed."  
Sakura nodded again. She began to understand the nature of this mission.

Tsunade sighed and said, "Sakura there is something else. There are reports that Uchiha Sasuke was spotted in the area. Be careful, do not engage him unless attacked first. If it comes down to that, disable him, but attempt to bring him back alive."

All Sakura could manage to say was, "Hai, Hokage-sama."  
The blond dismissed her and said, "Prepare your team, you leave first thing in the morning."

Sakura took to the rooftops and then began to prepare her pack for the mission when she got to her apartment.

Inside the mission scroll were all the directions and intelligence that other ANBU had collected.

She got her things ready and then made her way to ANBU headquarters to find her team and brief them on the type of mission they would be going on and what they needed to bring.

By the time that she briefed her team it was getting close to the time that she would meet up with Kakashi and Naruto.

She went home and put away her ANBU uniform until morning and dressed in comfortable clothing to go and meet up at Ichiraku's.

The meal was just like many of other meals with Kakashi and Naruto, filled with jokes, some well placed punches when either of them did something that annoyed the feisty pink haired kunoichi, but most of all it was full of genuine smiles that she kept in her heart to remember when the stress of her missions got to her.

She couldn't reveal the nature of her mission but they both knew. They didn't have to be told that she needed all the support that they could offer her. When they finished their meal, Naruto gave her a hug and whispered, "Be safe."

Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder and then winked at her and said, "Don't take too long, you still need to show me that new jutsu that you were trying out."

That was his way of telling her to come back safe and sound.

They knew how much she loved both of them. She hugged them both and said to Kakashi, "Make sure that you take care of this knucklehead while I am gone, he has a date with Hinata this weekend… Don't let him forget to buy her flowers!"

They both chuckled as Kakashi nudged Naruto on his side and said to the blond boy, "You know Naruto, you're old enough now… How about I let you borrow Icha Icha Paradise so you can get a few pointers!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and then headed back home.

She felt that those two would be fine, but there was something that didn't sit well with her about this mission.

She went to her bedroom to get some sleep before she had to leave.

Sakura reached underneath her mattress and pulled out a certain scroll, and placed it under her pillow so she could take with her in the morning.

There was no way that she would leave such a thing behind and risk someone finding it by accident and coming up with their own conclusions.

That night, a different Uchiha invaded her dreams. He had a cruel look in his eyes and didn't even consider her worthy of his attention. The only thing that he muttered in her direction was, "How annoying." as he stood over the corpse of his brother, Itachi.

She woke up clutching the scroll in her hands and shaking in fear as she whispered into the darkness, "Itachi… Stay with me."

* * *

A/N: Sorry that this chapter ended like that, it just felt right to end it with the nightmare.

Thank you again for all the support, reviews, follows, and favorites.

I do answer any questions that you might have so feel free to message me. One of them was Itachi and Sakura's ages. In this fic Sakura is 20 and Itachi is 25. I don't want them to have that much of an age difference, but I want Sakura to have been able to have plenty of experience and be more advanced in her medical skills and combat skills as well.

I don't want her to be a newbie and I don't want her to be some super genius that is 16 and knows how to do everything that Tsunade took years to perfect. She should be a bit more mature regarding certain combat situations, even though she does feel emotionally insecure about herself.

I was listening to Shinedown when I wrote the line about the crow and the butterfly so if any of you caught that, you know what song I was listening to as I wrote this. I always have a playlist going on in my head when I write that gives me inspiration.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 5

* * *

The last week had been hell for Itachi. The calm look that he had on his face betrayed the feelings in his heart, he was sincerely worried for the safety and wellbeing of the woman that he left in Konoha.

Even though he had decided not to seek her out, he still worried for her and would not stop thinking about her.

It was only a matter of time before she would be sent out on a mission.

Kisame wouldn't expect him back for the next two weeks, so he decided to take his time to clear his head, and if he was honest with himself to patrol the area in case he happened to run into her again.

* * *

Sakura and her team had traveled to the coordinates that were on her mission scroll. It had indicated that Kabuto's laboratory site was nearby.

They had already reached the village were many people had been abducted from. The village leader told her that about 26 people had disappeared.

The four man ANBU squad from Konoha, separated into two groups and went around the supposed building where they suspected the abducted villagers were kept.

Sakura motioned to Hawk, one of her ANBU agents, to spread out his senses and check the area.

Hawk informed her that there were signs of individuals that had shinobi chakra natures inside, but there was a larger group of civilians and shinobi on the move 200 yards from this area.

She told Hawk and Mouse to secure this area and she and Bird would follow the group of civilians so she could heal them once they eliminated their captors.

The group separated and Bird followed her into a clearing.

As they approached, she felt a genjutsu around them. Sakura told Bird to get ready as she would release the jutsu that surrounded the area.

As soon as she released it, she saw that there was the group of civilians tied to each other and sitting on the ground. They didn't look severely injured, but some looked dehydrated and in need of sleep.

A group of Sound shinobi surrounded them and began to charge at the Leaf ANBU.

Bird nodded at his commander and they both began a series of intricate seals that would help disable any of the known Sound techniques.

The Sound shinobi were unaware of what just happened, so they were surprised when their auditory attacks were ineffective. They began to fight with a different kind of taijutsu and ganged up on both Leaf shinobi's eight to one. Their attacks were powerful and they were using many techniques that Sakura didn't know they were able to use.

She took into account the techniques used, so she could inform Tsunade-sama when she got back.

Sakura charged her chakra and hit the ground. Some of the Sound shinobi jumped out-of-the-way, while three of them fell into the crater that she created. There was someone who said something into a radio and Sakura knew that reinforcements might be on their way, she needed to get them away from the villagers.

She gracefully dodged the volley of kunai, shuriken and exploding tags, and moved in a way that made her look like she was dancing around the lethal projectiles. Her katana deflecting what she couldn't dodge.

When Sakura managed to get to the villagers, she quickly looked over them for any serious injuries again, and with a flick of her kunai, she cut the ropes that bound them. She put her fingers to her mask, motioning them to be silent and made some seals at a frightening speed. Sakura cast an invisibility jutsu over them and she turned around and said to them, "I can give you five minutes of invisibility, go as far as you can from here, but make no noises and stay close to the shadows, I will draw them out."

As the villagers quickly left, she saw that there was a group of reinforcements coming her way.

Her surge of chakra seemed to have caught the attention of a certain Uchiha that was in the area. He ran towards her chakra signature like it was a beacon of light calling his name.

He got to the field as a pink haired ANBU agent fought off the oncoming group of shinobi that began to surround her.

He stood from a distance to observe the situation in front of him.

Sakura was amazing. Her agility made her movements look like flowing water.

His Sharingan was activated and he was ready to jump in and help her if she needed it.

A particularly large shinobi lunged at her with a huge ax.

He swore he heard her laugh at the pitiful attempt to take her down.

Sakura jumped over him and with a single touch to the base of his neck she severed his spinal column and the man slumped to the ground.

It appeared that this angered the other shinobi because they all charged at the her, and the other ANBU who had just joined her, at the same time.

The ANBU with the bird mask was able to take three down with a water jutsu and then Sakura said something that alerted him that she was about to do something. He crouched to the floor after her command.

Sakura then uprooted a tree and threw it in the enemy nin's direction.

The tree took a couple of the enemies out but one of the Sound shinobi threw a couple of senbon at the masked ANBU. Sakura jumped out-of-the-way, but her companion wasn't as lucky.

He was struck and now lay immobilized on the floor before the pink haired kunoichi.

She stood next to her comrade and touched him to check for a pulse. She grabbed him and jumped to a nearby tree, all the while letting her chakra flow into him. She saw that the enemy was going to surround her, and there would be no place for her to protect her comrade and defend herself.

She appeared calm but inside Sakura's mind was analyzing all of her options.

She was still healing the man who lay unconscious next to her.

Itachi saw his opening and then said, "Katon: Hosenka no jutsu!" and a volley of fireballs and shuriken was sent in the Sound enemies direction.

Sakura suddenly sensed Itachi and she stood in front of her fallen comrade in a defensive stance.

Itachi then did the seals and said, "Katon: Gokakyo no jutsu" and a huge fireball was expelled from his mouth. A great wall of fire separated the Sound nins from them.

He slowly turned around and then looked up at the tree where Sakura was looking down at him.

Her heart skipped a beat as she once again gazed into the crimson Sharingan.

There was a part of her that was glad that her mask was able to hide the blush that surely was covering her face at the moment.

He saw how her body tensed for a second and said to her, "I am not your enemy."

Sakura nodded after several heartbeats, picked up her comrade, and jumped down the tree.

Itachi said, "I can give you some time to heal him, but I can sense more enemies approaching"

She nodded and quickly began healing the masked shinobi once more. She let out a sigh as she shook her head and said, "It's poison."

She quickly took out a vial from her pouch, and got a syringe and injected the contents straight into her comrades heart.

The needle pierced the tissue and she began to heal what she could again. She took out a small scroll to scribble a note and placed it on the inside of his armored vest. She then took out one of her other scrolls and placed it on the ground. She easily picked the ANBU and placed him over the scroll.

She saw Itachi silently looking at her. Sakura looked straight into his eyes and whispered, "It's an emergency transportation scroll. It will take him to the nearest Konoha ANBU outpost."

He knew of such scrolls, but said nothing.

She performed the seals and then placed her hands on her comrade and said, "Bird, you better not die on us."

The ANBU agent immediately disappeared as the seals in the scroll beneath him began to flare.

When the seals disappeared, Sakura picked the scroll up and rolled it back up to place in her weapons pouch.

Green eyes met the silent Uchiha that stood next to her.

She said, "Uchiha-san, thank you… again." She bowed her head slightly in his direction.

He continued to look at her passively but inside he was controlling the urge to take off her mask and taste her lips once more.

He looked across the wall of flames and said, "They are here."

Sakura held her katana in front of her and was ready for what was to come.

There were several chakra signatures with killing intent rolling off of their bodies.

Mist began to fill the area as some enemy nins used water jutsus to quell the flames that separated them from their targets.

As soon as the flames were gone, enemies charged in their direction.

Some had enough sense to be wary of the Akatsuki member before them. Other's had the foolish notion of underestimating the kunoichi at his side.

Itachi and Sakura fought side by side as if it was second nature to them.  
Where one would attack the other would deflect attacks. Sakura felt the intense aura that Itachi had surrounding them. It felt protective and for some reason a part of her heart clenched at the thought of Itachi wanting to willingly protect her.

When several shinobi tried to attack Itachi from the back, to avoid his Sharingan, she hit the ground, sending large rocks shooting upwards as sharp jagged walls. She nimbly jumped over several nins and with her chakra scalpels took enemy after enemy down. If one would slip through her grasp Itachi would easily cut them down with his own katana.

Itachi looked back and saw Sakura fending two enemies off using taijutsu and couldn't help but see the beauty in her movements. His Sharingan memorized every detail of the fight that was clearly almost over.

Her katana then began to slice her way back to him. Sakura looked down and saw her uniform splashed with crimson. She then looked at Itachi and said, "Uchiha-san are you injured?"  
He shook his head and took a step towards her.

Itachi noticed that she didn't move, and he certainly notice how fast she had begun to breath.

Sakura's heart rate skyrocketed with each step that he took towards her.

She was like a magnet and he couldn't stop himself from being drawn to her. Itachi had incredible self-control but it was evaporating with each step he took in her direction.

When they both stood inches from each other, he looked down at the cat mask. Green eyes looked at him through the small slits, and he saw a depth to them that he hadn't noticed the first time they met.

Her hand slowly went up to the mask and she slipped it off of her face.

He looked at her and when the mask was completely off, she had her eyes closed.

Itachi's hand slowly made its way up to cup the side of her face and she slightly leaned into his touch.  
This made his heart swell and he knew that the woman before him had some sort of feelings towards him.

Her eyes stayed closed as he gently kissed her lips.

What happened next almost took the Uchiha by surprise.

She snaked her hands around his neck and pulled him down to deepen the kiss.

Sakura's mind began playing snipets of her nightmare from a couple of nights ago. She needed to make sure that he was ok, that he was real and most importantly that he was safe. The sight of Itachi caressing her cheeks, capturing her lips, made her lose her own control. She needed to make sure that this was real. That there was a spark between them, and she needed to confirm that he felt the same way.

Itachi kissed her back with the same intensity that she was kissing him. His hand cradled the back of her neck as she gently moved a lock of his hair out-of-the-way.

She broke the kiss and slowly looked up at him as she whispered, "This is the real Uchiha Itachi, not the one that everyone thinks they know… Why are you helping me?"

He didn't want to tell her, but they didn't have enough time, her team would be looking for her soon.

He looked around and then whispered, "Come with me... "  
She was a little shocked. Was he asking her to leave her village? To join the Akatsuki? Or simply to move from this location?

She realized that they were surrounded by dead bodies.

He held out his hand and she looked at him and then turned to look at the destruction around her.

She said to him, "Uchiha-san, I need for you to jump so I can clear this area before I leave."  
He understood ANBU protocols so he did as he was told and suddenly jumped into the air as her fist collided with the ground with an immense wave of chakra enhanced strength.  
The ground crumbled beneath her and she had enough time to launch herself into the air only to be caught by strong steady arms.

He pulled her in close and then they both disappear as his crows were left flying around the spot where they had just been.

Itachi transported them to a part of the forest away from the range of the sensing ANBU agent that Sakura had on her team.

She stayed still in his arms and he whispered to her, "We are just out of the range of your sensing teammate. If you want to go now, all you have to do is head that way and you will come across your team."

She looked at him and said, "Uchiha-san… Please-"  
He cut her off and grabbed the hand that she had on his chest and brought it up to his lips as he said, "Itachi… Please, call me Itachi."

Her blush didn't go unnoticed as he gently caressed her knuckles.

Sakura took in a deep breath and said, "Itachi… Please tell me why are you helping me?"

He said nothing but looked deep into her eyes.

She didn't flinch at the sight of the Sharingan. She looked directly at him and said, "I want to know the truth."

He internally debated about telling her the reasons why he could never return to Konoha. The real reason he was labeled a missing nin.

He sighed and said, "I cannot tell you the truth without shattering the world that has been created around you. Are you willing to give that up to know the truth?"

He could see the struggle within her, as his words sunk in.

He pulled her close to him and he breathed in her scent as he gently placed a kiss on her forehead.

Itachi wanted her to know that he would be willing to wait for her, if she would be willing to know the truth.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something but he quieted her by placing a chaste kiss on her lips and whispering, "I will tell you when you are truly ready. Goodbye Sakura."

She saw his form dematerialize before her eyes and was left with a feeling that he was not saying goodbye, but promising to meet her again.

Sakura took a moment to calm her nerves and then placed her mask back on her face to go and meet up with the villagers and her teammates.

She ran in the direction that Itachi had just pointed at and soon found herself with her teammates.

She looked around and asked, "Are you guys ok? Is anyone injured?"  
Mouse spoke up and said, "Hawk had a dislocated shoulder but we popped it back in. The villagers seem to be ok at the moment but we should get moving."  
Sakura made her way to Hawk and placed her glowing hand on his shoulder to relieve some of the pressure that came with a dislocation.

She told them about Bird and reassured them that he should be ok if ANBU followed her instructions on the note she sent. Sakura failed to mention the appearance of a certain Uchiha.

Hawk thanked her but said, "Captain, there was no sign of our target. The hostages said that they were just preparing them and keeping them in holding cells. There was no experimentation done because there were reports of someone that the target was interested in, roaming the area."

Sakura thought that it might be Sasuke, but she needed to be sure.

"Is the building secure?"

Both of her subordinates nodded and she told them to wait for her and get the villagers ready for travel.

Sakura went inside the building and realized what she was seeing. The way that the laboratory was set up was to try to continue the work of Kabuto's master, Orochimaru.

Tsunade-sama had given Sakura access to her former teammates notes after it became clear that the reports of his human experimentation were now directed towards Sasuke.

Sakura memorized those notes and knew the set ups that they used. Kabuto was trying to perfect a technique for his master to achieve immortality.

She picked up what she thought might be important and then exited the building after setting a couple of exploding tags on the columns inside. She noted the stress points and punched the precise spots needed to allow for the implosion to happen.

Once that was finished she began healing the wounds of the villagers as they all set out on the road.

After treating their wounds and cases of dehydration they met with the village leader who thanked the three ANBU agents.

Sakura bowed her head to him and said, "Please let us know if there is any further problems. We will have a patrol of ANBU make periodic runs to this location as part of their patrol. If you will excuse us, we need to head back."

The village leader thanked them once again and Sakura and her team went to the nearest ANBU outpost to see how their teammate had fared.

* * *

A couple of days later, Itachi opened the door to the safe house where he was to meet Kisame and found him talking with Deidara.

Both men looked up at him and Kisame smirked and said, "Itachi-san, are you done with your soul-searching mission?"

Inside, Itachi's blood began to boil, he did not appreciate Kisame speaking so openly about his moods, especially around the blond art-loving idiot.

His face was as stoic as usual and he calmly said, "Are you ready for the next mission?"

Kisame looked at Itachi and then at Deidara. He cleared his throat and said, "Deidara says that your little brother has been snooping around in his territory."

Itachi's eyes slowly gazed at the blond.

Deidara said, "Is there something that you want me to do about him, Itachi-san? Should I direct him in your direction?"

Itachi sneared at him and said, "Do as your wish. Kisame we need to leave."

Kisame got up to go get Samehada but when he turned to say something to Itachi, he noticed that he was already out the door. Kisame grinned and said, "Something is going on with him. I don't know what it is, but I will find out."

Deidara smiled back with a glint in his eyes and said, "Yeah."

* * *

A/N: not so happy with this chapter, It took me a while to write and rewrite it. I really am trying to write better fight scenes but that is not my forte, it is somewhat necessary for the sake of the story, so I will continue to try to improve.

I do have some good news though, I have finished the outline of this story and I even have an ending planned! Yay me! (I usually don't think that far ahead in stories but this one just wouldn't get out of my head, and I had to write it down in the outline). Suggestions are always welcomed though. I love to put in readers input, especially if it moves the story in a different direction that makes the story work better.

I'm sorry if Itachi's and Sakura's relationship is not on overdrive, it's just kinda hard for them to have a relationship when they still don't know each other too well. (I have planned a way to fix that in a later chapter, wink wink!) but for now, they need to discover some things for themselves, especially Sakura. That is what awaits us in the next chapter, so I hope you enjoyed this so far and I will get back to writing.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 6

* * *

Sakura thought about what Itachi had told her- _"I cannot tell you the truth without shattering the world that has been created around you. Are you willing to give that up to know the truth?"_

If someone, or a group of someones, needed a reality created around them to hide a secret, it would definitely have to have been one of the higher authorities in the village.

Her earlier suspicions came to mind and she knew that she needed to look in Konoha's archives.

As ANBU captain she was able to go through some documents without many people drawing attention to her. She was also apprentice to the Godaime Hokage and would be able to go through other sensitive materials as well.

She just didn't know how deep this went and she didn't know who she could trust.

Sakura knew that she was going to have to go to see Tsunade and tell her that she needed some time to think over her offer of taking over the hospital. She believed that if she asked for a month of straight hospital work, she could make up her mind about whether or not she wanted the job. It would also give her reasons to access past shinobi file records with little problems from the hospital administration and council.

She walked into the Hokage's office and was surprised to see Kakashi and Naruto there waiting. Naruto was happy to see his sister come back from her mission safe and sound. Kakashi gave his customary wave, but he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief to know that she didn't encounter Sasuke. He was one of the shinobi's that had gathered some of the intell for the mission.

The Hokage addressed them and said, "I am actually glad that I was able to catch all three of you together. There have been some rumors around Sound that Sasuke has killed Orochimaru and is now targeting Kabuto and the Akatsuki. We do not know if there is any shred of truth to these rumors, but I wanted you to hear it from me and not set off looking for him."

She looked pointedly at Naruto who clenched his jaw.

Kakashi stiffened slightly and Sakura's eyes fell a fraction towards the floor.

The Hokage continued, "It seems that the Uchiha has been messing with the Akatsuki in attempts to lure his brother, Itachi, out. His ultimate mission, as he has always stated, has been revenge."  
Naruto spoke up, and Sakura could have kissed him right then and there for always being the outspoken one of the group, "Baa-chan, why does Sasuke hate Itachi so much? His brother is a missing nin…. I just don't understand why he didn't want to stay with us and go up the ranks so we can take him down together."

Sakura looked at both of her mentors to see if they had any reaction to what Naruto had said.

Tsunade looked a bit irritated, but there was an imperceptible tension to Kakashi's uncovered eye that only someone who has known the man for so long could have picked up.

In her mind she exclaimed, _'Gotcha Kakashi sensei!'_

Sakura knew that her sensei knew more than he was letting on. She would have to approach the topic carefully, but she was sure that her sensei would tell her something that she could work with.

She looked at Tsunade as she heard the blond sigh at Naruto's comments and said, "Naruto, Itachi killed his entire clan. There is bad blood between those two. No one knows for sure why Itachi spared the life of his younger brother, but killed every last Uchiha, including his parents."

Sakura asked, "Tsunade-sama… How old was he when he killed his clan?"

Tsunade looked down at her papers to find the answer, but Kakashi was the one that spoke up immediately, "He was 13."

We all looked at him but he didn't say anything else. There was a sense of regret in his voice that Sakura noticed.

Naruto then said, "So what are we supposed to do with this info? Should we go after Sasuke, or find Itachi and wait for Sasuke to go to him?"

Tsunade shook her head and said, "No, we will wait until we get more info. Sasuke is still on the move and we don't need for you to go chasing him all over the Shinobi countries. If you want me to continue to give you updates on your… umm, teammate, I suggest you keep it down brat!"

Naruto sheepishly smiled at her and said, "Come on Baa-chan… I just… I just want to get Sasuke back. He doesn't need to be alone anymore."

The last sentence that Naruto said struck a chord with Sakura. She was only thinking about how Itachi didn't need to be alone anymore, either. There was something definitely wrong with the whole story about the massacre that didn't add up.

She needed to get more information.

Tsunade looked down at her papers and said, "Kakashi, Naruto you are dismissed. Sakura please stay. I need to know if you have made a decision."

Kakashi turned his head and raised an eyebrow as he walked out the doors.

He wondered what decision Sakura had made.

As the doors to the office closed. Sakura bowed her head and said, "Hokage-sama, I am honored that you think me able to handle such a great responsibility. I have worked extremely hard to get the position that I currently have, and I would like to ask you if you could assign me to the hospital for a month straight so I can see if that is indeed where my life should be. I don't want to have any regrets of leaving ANBU."

She chuckled softly and said, "I thought you might come to this conclusion yourself, so I cleared you from the rosters for the next couple of weeks. Take your time, fully immerse yourself in the hospital so you know what you are getting into. I won't lie to you, there might be times when I do call you out for a mission or two, but they might be rare. Your main responsibility will be here in Konoha and you might not be able to be in the field as much as you want, but know that your work here will save countless lives. You will be able to research new jutsus, develop your own, find new ways to help your comrades on the field by giving them the tools that they need to get back here in one piece."

Sakura was torn with those words. She knew that it would be a difficult decision, and both options had their pros and cons. She bowed her head and simply said, "Thank you Hokage-sama."

She suddenly looked up and said, "Shishou? If I you will allow me to look over the shinobi files, I can start to see the general health of our forces here in Konoha and get a basic idea of where I am starting at the hospital."

Tsunade smiled at her apprentice, thinking that she was just excited to start a new challenge.

She gave Sakura a pass for the secure section of the archives and told her, "Take all the time that you need. It's a month long pass. If you take the position you will need access to those records anyway."

As she handed the young woman the pass, Tsunade looked at her and said, "I don't need to remind you that what you read in there, stays in there… Ok?"

Sakura took the pass and said, "Hai, Hokage-sama."

She quickly left the office and was going to go home to prepare to go to the hospital that afternoon for a late shift, and to get some files for research, but was stopped by her former sensei who was blocking the door.

"Yo, Sakura you have a minute."

"Hey Kakashi! I was just gonna go home to get ready for a late shift at the hospital. Come on, I can fix us some lunch."  
The copy ninja gave Sakura an eye crinkling smile and fell into step beside her.

He had _Icha Icha_ out, but seemed to be looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

Sakura knew he wanted to say something to her, but they both knew that sometimes answers could not be given out in public so she assumed that he would wait until they got to her place.

Kakashi and Sakura had always enjoyed each other's company. They had bonded after their extensive training and multiple missions together. The silence on their way back to Sakura's apartment was comfortable and it reminded her of the times that they came to her apartment for lunch or dinner after their training sessions.

When they got to her place, Sakura went straight to the kitchen to start making lunch. Kakashi followed her and asked, "Can I help with anything?"

She turned around and smiled and said, "Sure, I'm making some miso soup, can you start slicing the onions and mushrooms, while I prepare the rest?"

He gave her a two finger salute while expertly twirling a knife in his hand and beginning to slice the vegetables that she had just set out.

She wanted to approach the subject of the Uchiha clan massacre but she knew that her former sensei was sort of skittish when any subject that brought back bad memories came up.

They continued to work in the kitchen together until they finished making their lunch.

She brought out the bowls and set them down on the table.

She knew that he would eat at the first chance that she looked away, so she looked straight at him and said, "You had something that you wanted to ask me about?'

He nodded, mentally thanking her for making him talk as his soup cooled down a bit.

Kakashi ran his fingers through his hair and asked, "Sakura it might be none of my business, but did the Hokage offer you another job?"

She smiled and said, "Yeah, that's why she asked me to stay after you guys left. She offered me a job as head of the hospital and be in charge of the health of all of the citizens of Konoha."

He raised an eyebrow and said, "And…."

"Well, I told her that I needed some time to think about it. I worked really hard to get where I am at. I mean… I was able to get to where I am at thanks to you and Tsunade-sama. I know I am making a difference in ANBU and even though it is…. tough… sometimes, I am able to rest at night knowing that I was able to be sent out, instead of putting one of my friends in danger. Half of them don't even know that I am in ANBU and that is fine with me. I just want to protect them."

He was so proud of how much she had grown and matured.

She looked at the wall and thought for a second before saying, "But Tsunade-sama also said that if I were to stay here in Konoha and run the hospital I could save many more lives…."

She looked at him and for once in a long time she looked unsure in what to do.

Sakura looked down at her bowl and said, "I don't know what to do? I asked her to give me a month at the hospital so I can see if that is truly where I am called to be…. but I don't know if I can do that for the rest of my life as I see my comrades go out on the field and possibly not come back."

Kakashi thought about what she said and then looked at her and said, "Sakura I know that you will always follow the right path, and your heart is what will lead you there."

It was true, her broken heart led her to seek Tsunade for help after Sasuke left. Her love for her friends drove her to reach the rank of jonin, and the desperate need to protect her village led her to join ANBU. Her heart was now making her question her village as she sought the truth that Itachi had spoken of.

She asked, "Kakashi, what do you think about me staying in ANBU?"

He sighed and looked at his now empty bowl and said, "Going into ANBU… well you make a decision that affects you in every aspect of your life. It's a thankless job, it's hard on the soul, and some of the people that I have known have lost themselves within its ranks."

His thoughts drifted to a certain teenage boy that he thought he knew so well, but in the end astounded everyone with his actions.

Sakura noticed the thoughtful look in his eye and said, "Kakashi, tell me... was Itachi in ANBU?"

He looked up and said, "You figured it out huh?"  
She smiled at him and said, "I have gotten better at reading you as the years go by."  
He chuckled and said, "I must be losing my touch…"

She thought that he wouldn't say anything else but he continued, "Yeah he was on my team for a couple of years until he was made a captain himself. I thought that I knew him, but it turns out that I knew nothing at all. He was like me in some ways… you know we both were labeled prodigies, graduated early, were thrust into the battlefield before we even hit puberty, and were in the ANBU ranks before anyone could question the idea of having children be trained assassins."

Sakura had never heard of Kakashi being so vocal about his past, but she guessed with both of them being ANBU he felt he could talk to her about it and she would be able to understand.

Sakura nonchalantly asked, "Kakashi, what do you know about the massacre?"

He raised an eyebrow in her direction and she said, "You know I am just wondering… trying to understand what would drive someone within our ranks to do such a thing."

Kakashi seemed to accept her answer and said, "Well… I thought I knew him. He was a very different than most Uchiha, almost the opposite of his father, Uchiha Fugaku. Itachi was clan heir and a very powerful shinobi, a true prodigy, extremely loyal to Konoha, and would do anything for the Leaf. However, he was a pacifist at heart but would still follow the orders of the Hokage to the letter. I don't know what could have happened for him to suddenly turn on his clan like that."

This was a hard topic for Kakashi to talk about and Sakura could see the tell-tale signs that he was about to bolt. She decided to change the subject and with a smile said, "Well Kakashi, could you see me as a full time medic?"

He smiled back and said, "Well you are the only one that most of us willingly go to when we need to be healed. I trust your skills in the combat field and in the operating room." He touched his side as he remembered the wound that she had close up when they had been out on a mission to the Land of Iron.

She beamed at him and said, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

He picked up their bowls and helped her clean up before he said goodbye and she got ready to go to the hospital.

Over the next couple of weeks at the hospital, Sakura realized that although she did love what she was doing, there was a part of her heart that was yearning for someone that could never step foot back in Konoha.

She managed to get some time in her schedule to head to the Konoha Archives. With her pass in hand, Sakura was able to head into the most secure sections of the Archives. She quickly got to work picking the files that she needed for evaluations but she also kept a look out for anything mentioning the Uchiha's or the massacre.

There had to be something written about it somewhere. Information was the shinobi's most prized possession and even the council couldn't hide such an enormous action as the complete annihilation of an entire clan in one night by a single individual.

It was during one of these visits to the archives that Sakura noticed a file with Kakashi's ANBU code name on it.

She picked up the file and realized that it was an ANBU report in the familiar handwriting of her former sensei.

She quickly scanned the document and to her surprise it was a report about the collection of the bodies from the Uchiha district from the night of the massacre. Sakura realized that Kakashi had been there that night. He had witnessed the bloodshed and that is why he was so reluctant about what he said about Itachi.

She knew that if this report was filed in this section, she was getting close to where they might have kept more documents. It seemed strange that she suddenly noticed more boxes with the Uchiha symbol on it. The Hokage symbol was also on it and she had a bad feeling that she was not supposed to be in this room.

She saw the seal that was on a box and recognized it instantly. Kakashi taught this to her when she became ANBU captain. He said that it was a only used when the documents were for the eyes of the Hokage only.

She remembered the seals and how they were placed and just worked her way backwards to unseal it.

When she finally was able to open the document she was absolutely horrified at what she saw. She wanted to be sick, and literally felt the bile rise up her esophagus.

There in black and white was what she feared, she read and couldn't believe it, the Council, the Hokage… they… ordered Itachi to carry out the massacre himself!

She quickly placed the documents back into the box and resealed it.

It seemed that either Tsunade was unaware of what was down here or she knew about it and just was able to hide it very well.

Her shishou had become Hokage at a very tumultuous time and barely had time to keep up with what she had on her desk, there was no way that she would have time to sift through all of this down here.

Sakura picked up the files that she had originally had come to get and then schooled her features so she could walk out of the Archives and head on back home.

When she got home she went up to her room took the scroll that held Itachi's robe in it and proceeded to lock herself in the restroom. She couldn't afford anyone coming in through her window and seeing her in the state that she was in now. Sakura unsealed the scroll, placed the robe around her shoulders and took in a deep breath of his scent.

She finally let the tears flow down her cheeks as she muffled her sobs in the black and red material.

He was thirteen… He was innocent of his clan's plans…. He had even tried to stop it…. He was following orders and he took on the label of missing nin willingly…. letting the world think that he killed his clan for his own personal reasons, letting his brother hate him.

Sakura could not believe that her village could have been able to order such a thing on it's own shinobi.

If the Uchiha clan hadn't been safe, no clan would have. She understood that a coup d'etat is a serious offense, but did it really mean that the entire clan had to be eliminated and more importantly why would they use one of said clan's own heir to do it?

Sakura knew the truth now and she was sure that her life would never go back to what it was before.

She needed to find Itachi…. her heart spoke to her as she continued to sob into his robe. It said to her that she needed to find Itachi soon.

There was no way that she would allow Sasuke to take something else from her. He had taken her innocent love and crushed it, along with her confidence in herself. She only saw herself as an annoyance and that had caused her to not seek a relationship with any other men.

Sakura had sworn to protect her heart from such heartache, but now, the very man that held her heart was willingly waiting for Sasuke to come and take his life, along with her heart. There was no way that she would allow herself to lose him.

She figured out whe the real Itachi was, had tasted him, and she craved more.

* * *

Deep in a cave far off from the border of Sound, a dark haired Uchiha lay planning his attack on the remaining members of the Akatsuki. If he needed to take each out, one by one, he would take pleasure in doing so, as long as it meant that he would finally get to avenge his clan.

The curse seal on his neck seemed to dance by the light of the fire as if it were alive. Uchiha Sasuke was consumed by his hate and was a shell of the man that he used to be.

Orochimaru's death seemed to have only fueled his desire to find his older brother and have him feel all of the pain that he had to endure for all of those years without a family.

* * *

Itachi lay looking at the moon above him thinking about what was to come. He expected to visit a certain pink haired kunoichi that was the sole focus of his dreams at night.

Itachi thought, _'She must have figured something out by now. Would she be willing to accept the truth, or would she close herself off in the made up world of the Konoha Senior Council?'_

In his heart he knew the answer and it thrilled and scared him at the same time.

He needed to find Sakura and finally tell her the truth.

He couldn't accept death without telling her how he truly felt about her.

He was owed at least this… life had been cruel and unfair to him and he decided that he would finally take what could have been his.

* * *

A/N: I know that this chapter is mainly about Sakura, so I apologize for very little Itachi (and Sasuke). I really felt that she needed to find this out on her own, but I especially loved her time with Kakashi. I think that they share a special bond between them and it shows in the ways that he cares about her.

Thank you so much for your support and comments. I know I have had difficulties with tense in the story and I will go back and fix them when I can. I have two exams next week so I might take some time before fixing the previous chapter for tense agreement.

I promise that there will be more Ita/Saku in the next three chapters for sure! The story is finally moving along where their relationship can have a solid foundation.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 7

* * *

This was the second double shift this week, and Sakura was absolutely drained. She needed to sleep, but she told the nurses that she would be in her office looking over some files before she went home.

Yuki, her head nurse, looked at her and said, "Sakura-san, please go home and rest. I will finish those charts for you and have them ready for you to sign in the morning."

Sakura was so thankful to have a wonderful nurse like Yuki to help her. She said, "Yuki, you are the best. I will… I will go home now and get some sleep. Let me know if there are any emergencies though."

Yuki agreed and was already pushing her out of the doors while assuring her that they would be able to handle the rest of the shift.

Sakura got to her apartment and went straight into the shower. She almost fell asleep as the hot water gently hit her back and soothed her tired and aching muscles.

She wished that her mind could be soothed in such an easy way but sadly she knew that her nightmares would catch up with her as soon as she began to dream. Sakura wished that she would have a dreamless night tonight, just so she could restore some chakra and not have the dull headache that accompanied chakra exhaustion.

Lately, her dreams were filled with images of a young Itachi covered in blood, or having the council, or her own shishou, ordering her to do something against one of Konoha's clans.

The nightmare that she had last night was of her being ordered to kill Naruto, in an attempt to contain the Kyuubi inside him. Just thinking about it made her skin crawl.

Itachi had been right, her world would be shattered once she learned the truth, but she took comfort that she would be the one to help Itachi bear that burden. He no longer had to be alone.

The next morning Sakura was preparing to leave her house to head back to the hospital when one of the Hokage's personal messengers arrived at her door and informed her that her presence was immediately needed at the Hokage Tower.

Sakura followed the messenger and was lead into the Hokage's office.

When the blond woman behind the desk looked up, her eyes suddenly softened and she said to her guards, "Please leave us for a moment."

They bowed and disappeared from the room in a flash.

Sakura approached the desk, a little afraid for what her shishou might say. She was scared that Tsunade might have found the box in the archives that held the information about the massacre, and somehow figured out that she had been the one to open the box.

Sakura's face did not betray her, though. Her face looked perfectly calm, albeit tired, but it showed no panic.

Tsunade motioned for her to sit down and then asked, "Sakura, how are you doing at the hospital?"

Sakura internally breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked at her shishou and said, "I have been able to manage. There are some changes in policy that I have made that have helped cut down on the percentage of hospital acquired infections and the recovery period of our more severe cases has improved."

Tsunade shook her head and said, "Look, I know that you have done exceptionally well in the last couple of weeks but I don't know if this was the right choice for you. I don't see that spark in your eyes like I used to."

She couldn't be more right on her assessment. Sakura had felt a sense of loss since finding those documents. It's as if her innocence had been stolen away, but it was because she felt that Itachi's life had been ripped away by a single command. She felt his pain and could barely understand the reasoning as to why it had to be done. Who could have commanded a child to kill not only his parents, but his entire clan in one night and then expect him to continue to be loyal. She was still astounded as to why Itachi wouldn't have taken the road of revenge against all of Konoha and destroyed everyone else.

Tsunade continued to look at her and said, "Sakura you are doing it again."

Sakura snapped back to reality and said, "Forgive me Hokage-sama, I guess I just haven't been sleeping well."

Tsunade knew all too well about the nightmares that most of her ANBU agents suffered from. It was something that she wished she could take away but was unable to. The men and women of ANBU were the real backbone of Konohagakure and they were the ones that were never openly thanked or appreciated.

She continued to look at her apprentice and said, "Sakura… I thought that by giving you time in the village your… um.. dreams... would stop. I am afraid that by not having something to focus on so deeply I might have made them worse."

Sakura hung her head and said, "Tsunade-sama, would it be too much if I request a long recon solo mission to clear my head?"

"Of course not… I really want the best for you Sakura, I am extremely proud of you and I know that one day you will surpass me."

There was a pit in Sakura's stomach, but she managed to look at her Hokage and bow her head and say, "Thank you."

Tsunade sifted through some papers and then pulled one out and said, "I have this recon mission that you could go on. It should be no more than one or two months. Maybe the time away from the village can give you a different outlook and when you come back you can make a decision about the hospital."  
Sakura took the scroll and thanked her once again.

Tsunade noticed the way that her eyes sparkled just a bit after she took the mission scroll from her hand.

She looked at Sakura and said, "Alright, go on and get ready to leave, but be careful. There should be one of our informants that might leave some information in the location listed in that scroll. Be sure that no one sees or manages to identify you. That person has been one of the most trusted sources of information that the Leaf has ever had and has never failed us once."

Sakura left her office with a lighter heart at the prospect of leaving the village for a month or two.

She needed to go home and pack, but only after going to Kakashi's apartment to leave a note for him that she would be out for a while, so he and Naruto wouldn't worry. Kakashi had been on a mission for the last two weeks and Naruto and Captain Yamato had been sent off on an escort mission for some rich merchant.

That night she slept and dreamt, but this time it was of her and Itachi. Her dream was of meeting him in a very different Konoha; a Konoha where the Uchiha clan still lived, Sasuke was a normal guy who was loyal to his teammates and friends, and Itachi had the respect and admiration of the entire village.

At first light the next day, Sakura had already passed the village gates and was making her way out to the coordinates on the scroll.

* * *

Kisame exclaimed at the figure before him, "Itachi-san, you have been rather distant these last couple of days, is there something going on that I should know about?"

Itachi continued to glare at the man. He continued to say nothing as they made their way back to their home after a mission to gather some intel for their leader.

Kisame knew that whatever was on Itachi's mind had to be something major for the almighty stoic Uchiha to become flustered whenever he asked any questions.

Itachi could feel his partner's gaze as they traveled, expecting him to answer his question.

The Sharingan wielder knew that if he didn't say something, Kisame would continue to ask him questions and he was sure that he didn't want anyone to suspect anything and be messing in his own personal affairs.

Itachi then quietly replied, "Kisame-san, I have always kept your private matters, private. I wish for you to respect my personal issues as I respect yours. What I am doing will not interfere with our missions so it should be no problem to you or the Akatsuki."

Kisame was surprised by his answer and then he asked point-blank, "Is it a girl?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow as he stared at the blue man and without any notice disappeared into a flock of crows.

Kisame yelled at the crows, "Well you better be back for the next mission!" He shook his head and said to himself, "Finally… that man seriously needed a woman to distract him."

* * *

Deidara had made his way back to his hide out near the border of Iwagakure. As he was approaching a field near his home, he came across a man who resembled Uchiha Sasuke.

The two figures approached each other and Deidara said, "Well if it isn't the little Uchiha… Have you come looking for your big brother to finally have your 'epic' battle?"

Deidara's tone was mocking and it only served to anger Sasuke even more.

The younger Uchiha had surrounded the blond Akatsuki member with some of his shadow clones and they all said in unison, "Tell my brother that I am ready for him. I will take away everything that he has ever worked for and everything that he holds dear, including this pathetic organization. There is no escape from my wrath, I will avenge my family and make him suffer."

Deidara had begun to mold some exploding clay spiders as he said, "You know, you and your brother are nothing alike… I don't particularly like either of you, but at least your brother has the sense not to go announcing his plans and making idle threats. Grow up little boy, you are not the only one that has had a tragic past… and I am not your messenger."

Sasuke's patience was running thin… his rage was getting the best of him and he launched his snakes at him.

Deidara had sent his spiders to each of the clones as Sasuke was making the seals for his summoning jutsu. Deidara detonated his clay creations just as the snakes were lunging at him. With a loud explosion all of Sasuke's shadow clones dispelled.

The blond had already jumped away from the detonation and was ready for any other attack.

Sasuke was a ways off, but said, "I'll end you soon, brother. I will pick your teammates off one by one."

Deidara smirked in the direction where Sasuke was hiding and said, "Just you try, little Uchiha…"

He decided to leave Deidara alone for now, he had riled him up enough that he knew that Deidara would eventually go back to try to alert not only his brother, and the rest of the Akatsuki members.

Sasuke then crouched on the ground to pick up an extremely small snake that Deidara had managed to ignore completely during the attack. This particular snake had the thinnest fangs from all of his summons and had been infused with a special venom that could slowly disable a Kekkei Genkai at a genetic level. It was useless in battle because it took a couple of weeks to slowly unravel the genetic code and then destroy those genes that dealt with those special abilities.

Sasuke had taken the snakes from Orochimaru summoning contract when he had killed him. He swore to take down Deidara for insulting him, and he would wait until the poison had taken it's full effect before getting rid of him and eventually the rest of Akatsuki.

The two small puncture fang wounds on the inside of Deidara's ankle had already healed and were almost invisible to the naked eye.

* * *

Itachi had traveled in the general direction of Konoha without even thinking about it. He was due to send a crow to the drop site in a couple of days. The elder Uchiha needed to put some distance between him and Kisame.

The last couple of days on their latest mission were torturously long for the usually calm and collected Uchiha Itachi.

Kisame wouldn't stop asking him about why he had left and what he had done. After the second day of ignoring him, they had finally come across their target and Itachi had taken control of the mission and finished it single handedly in order to get away from the incessant talking of the blue man. It was really strange that Kisame would be so willing to ask about his personal affairs that Itachi had used his Sharingan to make sure that it wasn't an imposter posing as Kisame.

Itachi knew that his absence was noticed not just by his partner, but now by Deidara as well, and he would have to tread lightly around their already suspicious natures.

After a days travel he came to the rendezvous point and he spread his senses to see if the usual contact person was at their perspective rendezvous point as well. Since he had done this for the last couple of years the process of handing off information was almost second nature to both parties involved. They both knew the rules and neither of them tried to probe to deeply into their chakra signatures, but when Itachi spread out his senses he found the one chakra signature that he couldn't ever ignore.

He found hers.

Itachi knew that she was alone and flared his chakra for her to feel and soon they were both running towards each other.

He noticed her first.

She was running towards him, her ANBU mask already out-of-the-way, a look on her face telling him that she knew the truth about his past.

Sakura had felt his chakra and was pulled in his direction with each passing heartbeat.

What had struck her as odd, was why he had been so close to the rendezvous point, and then it hit her like a ton of bricks… He was the informant.

She knew that he was, and would always be, loyal to her village… no… _their_ village. She knew that he helped her because of where she was from, and because he was still a good person deep down. Sakura was now certain, that what she felt in his presence was something that they both couldn't describe, but knew that it felt right. She now knew the truth in her heart and she wanted to hear it from his lips.

Sakura's heart told her that she loved him and that is why she was being lead in his direction this whole time.

As she approached him, his calm façade morphed into one of surprise and a hint of relief. He was running towards her, as she was running to him. When they were but a few yards away, Sakura launched herself to him saying his name.

Hearing her say his name with all the unspoken emotion and feelings was like a drowning in an ocean of bliss. He wanted his name to be the only one that escaped her lips. He opened his arms and caught her in an embrace, their foreheads touching as they gazed into each other.

Itachi took in a deep breath as he whispered her name.

Her name rolled off of his lips like a caress and she tightened her grip on his neck.

Itachi glanced down at her lips, as she slowly closed her eyes, he lowered his head to gently capture her lips in a sweet kiss.

Her hands were tangled in his hair pulling him closer. The kiss deepened and they were soon up against a tree letting their mouths explore each other.

Sakura held him close as she whispered in between kisses, "Itachi…. Please…. don't leave…. I know…. the truth…. I…. want…" Itachi couldn't stop himself after hearing her words, her body arching into him as he kissed her. He took a small bite of her collarbone and she breathlessly said, "You… Itachi… oh… stay with me…"

He kissed her lips to answer her question and he whispered, "I haven't stopped thinking about you."

Her head swam at the thought of being the one who dominated the thoughts of a certain Uchiha.

She kissed him back with all the emotion that she held in for so long. No man had tempted her as he did.

They were in need of oxygen and had to break apart.

Sakura felt her heartbeat quicken as she stared at the man that she held before her. Uchiha Itachi looked breathless after their kiss and she could have sworn that it was the most enticing sight she had ever seen.

He slowly put her down, trying to regain a little control and said, "You are here on a mission?"

She nodded and said, "I take it you are the '_informant'_?"

He lowered his gaze and said, "As much as I love my village, I am still labeled a missing nin. This is the only way I can still serve the Leaf."

Sakura was amazed at his loyalty. He had given everything up, yet he still loved his village enough to want to protect it in the only way that he could.

Her hand reached his and she brought it up to her heart not having to ask out loud, but instead pleading with her eyes.

He returned her gaze with a half smile.

Itachi then took her fingers and kissed the tips as he closed his eyes. Itachi knew that he wasn't allowed this…. relationships were something that a missing nin couldn't afford to have.

He knew that he could never give her the relationship that she deserved but, her eyes, her words, and her kiss made him a bit selfish.

He would stay with her for as long as she wished him to be there, even if he had to move mountains, to be by her side.

They looked at each other and he said to her, "You know the truth now… is there anything else that you want to know?"

His willingness to open up to her surprised her, but she knew that something had changed between them now. They had shared something that few people knew and her reaction gave him hope that they might be able to share something more.

She said to him as she interlaced her fingers between his own, "You…. you were innocent… Why?"

He looked at their interlocked hands, amazed at how perfect her hand looked in his and said to her, "Because it was something that needed to be done to protect the village as a whole. One clan or the village? Lord Third had a difficult choice to make, and Danzo wasn't giving him many other options. The Uchiha clan would have revolted if we didn't stop them and there would have been far more innocent deaths. I did what I did to protect the village and to silently atone for their sins as clan heir, while giving Sasuke a name that he could nurture and grow into something different. I wanted him to have a clean slate… nothing to tie him to my clan's past, to our curse."

They continued to walk ahead and he asked her, "How long are you on the recon mission?"  
She looked at him and said, "About 1-2 months, I honestly didn't think that I would get to meet the _'informant'_ so soon."

He smirked in her direction and she was truly amazed at how relaxed Itachi looked around her. It's as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

He softly asked, "Do you want to stay with me, during that time?"

She stopped walking and looked straight at him and said, "Yes. I want to get to know you better, and… Itachi, I want to know if what I am feeling is…. well, the same for you?"

He gave her a genuine smile and caressed her cheek and said, "Sakura… I will not hide anything from you. I asked you a question one time while you were asleep, and I am determined to find out the answer."  
Sakura was unaware of what he was talking about but she still nodded and continued to hold his hand as they walked into the forest. The couple looked for a place to set up camp for the night, finally finding a secluded cave that was hidden behind a small waterfall. It was deep enough that they could hide a fire and the small opening gave them a wonderful view of the night sky.

* * *

A/N: Sorry I was so late with updating this chapter. I had some life issues come up and couldn't really focus (maybe that is why I have Itachi, Sakura, Kisame, Deidara, and Sasuke all in this chapter). I wrote this thing a couple of times because I didn't really have time to write it all in one night. I had to write a paragraph a night due to my time constraints so I am not sure if it flowed well.

The next two chapters will mainly focus on Itachi and Sakura's relationship. Sasuke might not make another appearance for a while.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 8

* * *

Itachi set up several layers of a strong genjutsu around their campsite. If anyone managed to come near them, they would be trapped and Itachi would immediately know.

He walked back into the cave and Sakura had already set up her gear around the campfire.

Itachi silently watched her set her bed roll out and take out a blanket to wrap around her shoulders.

Winter was near and the temperatures were dropping, he knew that he couldn't keep her here in a cave for the next couple of weeks. The time that he had with her would be precious, so he decided to take her to the nearby village tomorrow and properly take care of her.

He continued to watch her and noticed how she would move her hair from her face and place the pink locks behind her ear, but they would stubbornly continue to fall on her face.

He reached to his own ponytail and removed the black ribbon that tied his hair. Sakura slowly turned around and watched him approach her.

She was momentarily shocked at seeing Itachi with his hair loose and had to stop herself from reaching out and running her fingers through his silky midnight colored tresses.

He came up to her and slowly turned her around. With the ribbon in his hands he took her hair and tied it in a ponytail. She blushed and felt her breath hitch as he placed a kiss at the back of her neck, as he gently moved his fingers along her shoulder. Sakura tried to maintain her heartbeat and breathing as steady as she could. He ran his hands along her shoulders down to her arms, tracing small circles as he reached her hands.

She stood as still as she could and he said to her, "Sakura… I would like to have us stay at the nearby village tomorrow night. The temperature will be dropping and I wish for you to be as comfortable as possible."

She had a million different things flash through her mind at his words, but she managed to nod after several moments.

Itachi led her to where she had laid out the bedroll. He took a seat and then opened his arms to her, inviting her to sit in front of him so he could wrap his arms around her to keep her warm.

She sat down and then felt his strong chest on her back. He sighed in contentment and then placed a soft kiss on the shell of her ear. They stayed that way in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. Sakura then began to snuggle deeper into his chest and then said, "Itachi… how long have you been a double agent?"  
He answered immediately, "Since I left the village. Lord Third had given me permission to enter the village to check on Sasuke from time to time. No one knew that I kept a close watch on him from afar. Since then, I have informed Nara-san with any bit of information that I could. He is my usual contact, even though we have never met."

She thought about his words and then asked, "When you were in ANBU, did you and Kakashi get along?"

He smiled and said, "He told you about me?"  
She chuckled and said, "Not exactly. I kinda figured it out and then had to get bits of information out of him."

Itachi replied, "I didn't know that the Copy Ninja was susceptible to torture?"

Sakura then turned around to see his smiling face and said, "I didn't torture my sensei! I merely made him lunch… and… well, he spoke very highly of you… but with a twinge of sadness and regret."

Itachi closed his eyes and said, "Kakashi-san was, and will always be, a man who I respect. He was my captain and he taught me so much. I didn't want to taint him with my clan's problems. He already had so much to deal with, so much loss… I wanted him to be able to focus on my brother, to have him teach him what I couldn't. I regret having him go through so much for my sake."

Sakura said, "You know he was right, you two are very much alike."

She smiled at him and he then asked, "How are things back in the village now… that you know."

Her smile fell by just a fraction and then her eyes focused and said, "We are all the same."

He was slightly confused but said nothing, opting to wait for her to elaborate.

She then looked at him and said, "What I mean is that your actions are no different from when I am assigned ANBU missions, or when any other shinobi has to kill in order to protect their village. Shinobi are tools to be used for the benefit of their villages, the people in charge are the ones who have more responsibilities, but that doesn't change the fact that we all have blood in our hands."

She stayed silent for a minute and then asked, "Itachi, how have you been feeling since I healed you?"

He replied, "I have felt so much better than I have in years. If it weren't for you I might be closer to my deathbed. I had suffered from that disease for a long time."

She then interlaced her hands in his as he placed his chin on her shoulder.  
Sakura took in a deep breath and said, "Itachi, please don't move. If you will allow me I would like to check your system one more time to see if there is anything else I can do."

She felt an almost imperceptible nod, giving her permission to begin. He kept his chin on her shoulder, and closed his eyes.

Sakura concentrating her chakra all over her body. Itachi hands were wrapped around her and she could feel every breath that he took. If she shut everything out she could feel the way that his blood flowed through his heart.

She interweaved her chakra into his and it was as if his chakra was embracing hers. Sakura's chakra was fluid-like and was able to go in and out of each of his cells, healing what she found, removing any harmful substances that affected his body. The whole process took about an hour and a half. After she was done Itachi took a deep breath feeling absolutely renewed and then placed a soft kiss on her cheek as he said, "Thank you."

She felt the slight drain of her chakra but just relaxed further into his embrace.

Itachi noticed this and said, "Sakura you need to eat something to replenish your chakra."  
She hummed and ok but made no move to leave the secure enclosure of his arms.

He leaned to the side and reached for her pack to pull out a box of rations.

He opened it up and said, "Sakura, eat something. I promise that I will feed you properly tomorrow."  
She slowly opened her eyes and then nodded sleepily.

The rations box was in her hands and Sakura began to eat slowly.

She offered some to Itachi and was surprised when he leaned in and took a bite of the morsel of food from her fingers.

She said nothing and they both continued to eat in comfortable silence.

Night had come, and with it Sakura began to wonder what would happen next.

As if Itachi could read her mind he whispered, "I swear to you, I will not take advantage of you. I don't want that for us…" He then kissed her and said, "I want more."

She registered his words and then looked back at him. He gently smiled at her and he said, "You deserve so much more… but I will try my hardest to give you what you need for as long as you allow me to be at your side."

She smiled and he gently laid her back on the bed roll. He pulled his cloak around them and then kissed her hair and said, "Goodnight Sakura."  
She could hardly make the words but she managed to say, "Goodnight Itachi."

The following morning Sakura awakened to a set of arms wrapped around her. She turned her head and Itachi's sleeping face was next to her.

Watching his unguarded state she couldn't help but to brush away a stray strand of hair from his face.

He looked so peaceful… so much younger than what everyone made him out to be.

She couldn't believe that this was real. She must still be dreaming because this moment was just too perfect.

Itachi whispered to her, his eyes still closed, "Good morning Sakura."

She caressed his cheek and he opened his eyes and stared deeply into her emerald ones.

Her blush graced her cheeks and Itachi tightened his grip on her.

She welcomed his warmth and was absolutely content with staying in his arms for the rest of the day.

After several moments, Itachi whispered in her ear, "We need to pack up, I want to take you to the village."

She nodded a bit but continued to hide her face in his chest. Itachi caressed her hair and said, "Sakura, it's only going to get colder here."

She slowly looked up at him and unwrapped her arms from his waist.

He caressed her cheek and said, "I am not going anywhere without you, so let's get ready."

They began to pack up, both working in silence as if they had been doing this for years.

When they were both finished she looked at him and said, "We need to disguise ourselves if we will be staying in the village for some time. Are there many shinobi in the nearby village?"

He shook his head and said, "A simple henge will do, civilians won't be able to notice but if you want I can teach you how to do this."

She watched him forms some hand seals and then saw the face of the merchant that watched her jumping from the rooftops back in Konoha.

Sakura said, "That was you?! You were in Konoha?"

He lowered his now grey eyes and said, "I needed to be sure that you were safe… and I had to see you one last time."  
She was surprised and said, "One last time, what do you mean?"

Itachi looked at her and then said, "I wanted to see what kind of life you had back in Konoha. I saw that you had friends, a job at the hospital, people who respect and care about you. I can't give you any of that, so I decided to stay away from you in order to keep you safe. The life of a missing nin is nothing that I would ever wish on anyone else, and you deserve so much more than what I can give you."

"But Itachi, you deserve to be happy too."

He looked away, not able to see the look in her eyes.

She walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "I might have all of those things back in Konoha, but my heart has never truly been happy. I have no one to share it with and for the first time, in a very long time, I feel something around you that I never thought I would feel again, except that this time its a feeling that is so much stronger."

She continued to look at him and then pushed a short curly lock of his now brown hair out-of-the-way.

Itachi gave her a soft smile. This woman cared for him and he knew that he would never be able to deny her anything. She had a firm grip on his heart and wasn't about to let go anytime soon.

He then said, "Do you want to know how to do this jutsu?"  
She smiled and said, "It really is amazing how you can change your features and give off a civilian chakra signature."

He taught her what to do and after a couple of tries Sakura had managed to alter her features just a bit. Her hair was raven black, just like Itachi's, and she modified her skin to be a shade lighter.

Itachi asked her to keep her own eye color though, and she gave in to his request.

Before they went to the center of the village, they stopped at clothing store to buy some civilian clothes to change into.

Itachi now wore a dark grey sweater and some black pants. Sakura wore a dark blue yukata with a white Obi that had blue flowers lightly printed on the edges that matched the color of the yukata.

They paid for the items and as Sakura was walking out the door, Itachi looked at the merchant and asked to buy the hair pin that was in the case in front of him.

The merchant said, "This is a very beautiful piece, I am sure that your wife will love it."

Itachi smiled at the merchants words and paid for the hair pin.

He walked outside and caught Sakura in a hug and then picked up her now raven locks and twisted them on her head and then placed the hair pin to hold them in place.

She brought her hands up to her hair and touched the hair pin feeling the soft chime of the silver cherry blossoms that adorned it.

She looked at him and before she could thank him, he whispered, "You deserve this and more."

She cupped his face and leaned in to give him a soft chaste kiss.

They both walked into town hand in hand and made their way to a food stand so they could order some breakfast.

They ate their food and then spotted a nearby inn.

When they approached the owner about getting a room, she looked at them and said, "Are you guys on your honeymoon?"

Itachi held Sakura a bit tighter as she tried to hide her blush.

The owner didn't need a response as she chuckled and said, "Here, you can have this room."

Itachi took the keys and bowed his head in thanks.

The owner winked at him and said, "Upstairs to the left."

He gave her a half-smile and then picked Sakura up, to her surprise, and went in the direction that the owner just told him.

Sakura held onto his neck and whispered, "I can walk you know?"  
He smirked and said, "I know but we are on our 'honeymoon'… It wouldn't be proper for me to allow you to walk upstairs, what kind of husband would I be?"

She blushed and looked back to see the owner watching them go up the stairs, a smile on the older woman's face.

The room was nicely furnished, there was a balcony right outside the sliding doors, the color scheme was a calming shade of light blue, the bathroom had a large shower, and a futon was folded in the nearby closet.

Sakura placed her things in the drawers and Itachi began doing some protection seals to place in the room.

When they both finished setting everything up, they decided to go out into the town for a bit.

The innkeeper saw them come downstairs and she asked, "Will you be going out to the village?"  
Sakura nodded.

"There will be a fireworks festival in two days time. Many of the merchants in the area are preparing for that."

Itachi bowed his head and said, "Thank you, we will be sure to stay for that."

The walk around the village was calm and both Itachi and Sakura were extremely comfortable with each other. They talked about many different things as they walked around, from favorite colors, to food, to favorite fighting styles. Itachi paid close attention to every word that she said and would actually smile as she recounted the many missions of Team 7. She noticed that he slightly lost focus of the conversation for a second after she mentioned Sasuke.

Itachi thought that his younger brother had a good team and felt that Sasuke would have had a good group of friends had he not been so focused on revenge.

Sakura picked up on his slight hesitation and said, "Itachi, I'm sorry about Sasuke…. I tried to stop him… more than once, but I was too weak at the time."

He shook his head and said, "You are not to blame for any of this. I led him down this path, the fault is mine. I should have done everything differently…" He then whispered, "I promised my parents that I would take care of him. That night, they knew that I wouldn't harm him and they said that I would have to bear the guilt and all the hate that would be directed at me."

There was so much sadness in his voice. He missed his parents terribly.

She cupped his face and said, "You don't have to bear it alone."

Itachi closed his eyes and just reveled in the feeling that she emitted. She was a wonderful, compassionate person and Itachi knew that her hold on his heart was becoming unbreakable.

They continued to talk about various subjects and was completely amazed by her medical knowledge. She talked about her first promotion and then about the offer that Tsunade had given her.

She was fascinating.

After some time Sakura stopped and said, "I'm sorry, I must be boring you with these stories."

He shook his head and gently caressed her cheek and said, "Please don't stop, I haven't had any stories from the Leaf in a long time."

She then asked, "Well is there anything that you want to know?"

He shrugged and said, "Sakura, what are your favorite books, other than medical textbooks?"

That sparked another long conversation about books and she mentioned that Kakashi had a questionable affinity towards a certain genre.

Itachi lightly chuckled at the thought of his ANBU captain walking around reading porn in broad daylight.

Sakura asked, "Did he read those books when he was in ANBU?"

Itachi shook his head and said, "Not when I was with him. It might be a coping mechanism."

There conversation went back and forth covering many subjects and they found that they had a lot of things in common.

By the time that they had gotten back to the inn it was already dinner time.

The innkeeper said that she would bring up their dinner in a few minutes.

Both Sakura and Itachi changed into more comfortable clothes and were thankful when the innkeeper left their food and said that she would be downstairs if they needed anything.

Itachi surprised Sakura by sitting next to her, instead of across from her.

He moved a strand of her hair and he whispered, "Could you please dispel the jutsu."

She looked at him and he changed back to his normal eye and hair color.

Sakura did as he asked and soon he had a lock of pink hair in his hands.

Itachi leaned in and said, "You are beautiful.."

Her blush burned her cheeks and she smiled at him.

No one had ever told her that.

He picked up his chopsticks and then fed her a bit of rice. She opened her mouth and took the offered rice, still blushing.

He ran his thumb over her cheek and said, "You fed me yesterday, it's only fair that I feed you today."  
She gave him a smile and he continued to feed her in such a way, slowly, always meeting her gaze.

Itachi wanted to take care of her, to keep her by his side at all times.

His thoughts suddenly grew darker and he tried to push them away. What kind of life would she have with him? She had accepted him, but for how long?

He shook those thoughts away once more and focused on the woman before him.

If the gods were granting him this opportunity, he would enjoy whatever time that he could with her now.

He could at least give her some happy memories until he had to meet Sasuke.

After they finished dinner they set the food tray outside for the innkeeper to pick up and Itachi wrote a note, thanking her for a delicious meal.

When he came back into the room, Sakura was setting up the futon.

Itachi said, "Would you like to take a shower first?"

She nodded and then took her pack in the bathroom with her. He soon heard the shower and he went to the balcony to sit for a while.

He thought to himself, _'Mother, I don't know what to do. She is everything that I would have wanted in a wife, but…. there is Sasuke.'_

She heard her walk out of the shower, wrapped up in a soft yukata and her hair still damp.

Sakura walked towards him and softly said, "I'm done, you can go in now."

He took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on her palm and said, "Thank you Sakura."

As he went into the shower, Sakura thought about how much her life had changed since meeting him.

She finally found someone who made her feel complete.

She knew that what she was feeling was real and she wanted to make this work, they no longer had to be alone.

Sakura gazed up at the stars for a couple of minutes and then walked back in the room just as Itachi was putting on a shirt.

Her eyes lingered a fraction of a second longer on his abs and she quickly looked the other way.

Itachi didn't know that he had that kind of effect on her, but he decided to store that bit of information to himself for later use.

He raised an eyebrow in her direction and smirked as she tried to hide her blush.

They both turned down the covers and he laid down on the futon, opening his arms once again to the pink haired kunoichi.

Sakura laid down next to him and said, "Itachi, thank you for today."

He kissed her ear and said, "No Sakura, thank you."

She was falling asleep in the warmth of his arms as she almost missed the low whisper that said to her, "Sleep well my love."

The next day was similar to the day before. They walked all over the village and Itachi told her some stories of him and Sasuke when they were both younger.  
Sakura was amazed on how different Sasuke had been around his brother. Itachi clearly loved him very much.

That night Sakura was the one to kiss him goodnight and whisper to him, "You are a good man, Itachi. You don't have to be alone anymore. I will be here with you."

Itachi held her close and only kissed her forehead in response.

The following evening would be the fireworks festival and he planned to make it special for her. He needed to tell her about his plan, about Sasuke, about everything.

They got to a park and they sat down on one of the benches. Itachi kept his arm around her shoulders and Sakura laid her head on his shoulder.

Itachi then whispered to her, "I wish that I could do this with you all the time, without any disguises, and back in Konoha. I wish..."

He stopped for a minute and then continued, "I don't want to taint you or damage your reputation. I can't go back to the life that I had before."

He looked away and said in an almost defeated tone, "And who could ever love someone like me?"

She softly whispered, "Me."

Itachi's eyes suddenly changed to the crimson Sharingan but she didn't flinch or look away. He wanted to memorize this moment and she knew it deep in her heart.

He couldn't believe what this woman just had confessed to him.

Sakura said, "I want to make you happy Itachi, you deserve to be happy. I don't want to leave you."

He took her in his arms and breathed in her scent.

"I can only give you a life on the run. I know that you wouldn't betray your village and it would be very hard for you to lose your friends. I can't hurt you like that."

"It would hurt me more to lose you than to lose everything else."

His resolve was waning and he knew that he could not say no to her anymore.

He sighed and said, "I can't do it anymore. I do want you, more than anything else, but…"

Sakura continued to look at him and he said, "You don't deserve to have to hide your relationships from others… "  
She gasped and said, "Is that what we have…"

He took her hand and said, "If that is what you wish to have, I will find a way to make it work."

She sighed into his chest and said, "Since it will be the only way that I can have you, I am willing to keep it secret."

He took her chin in his fingers to get her to look at him and said, "You deserve so much more than me…."

When her eyes lowered with a glint of sadness he gently took her lips and after a soft kiss he said, "but your hold on my heart is what is making me turn my back on everything that I know. I will stay with you Sakura… if you let me."

She processed what he said and asked, "Always?"  
He kissed her again and said, "Not even death could separate me from you."

They both looked up at the sky to see the fireworks that filled the night sky.

Itachi would think of another way to give his brother closure, because he decided that Sakura meant much more to him now.

* * *

A/N:The next chapter is more Ita/Saku goodness Wink Wink! So excited about the next couple of chapters.

Itachi misses his mom sometimes and I like the way that he still tries to get guidance from her. He might act a little OOC in this chapter but he is always seen as cold and emotionless, but come on he had to hang out with real missing nins and look the part too. Who knows how he would have been had he not had so much stress as a young kid or had to commit the massacre. This is the Itachi that I would imagine him to be when he was by himself.

Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 9

* * *

Itachi looked at the sleeping woman curled up in his arms and gently caressed the pink locks out of her face. This was their last night in the village and they had decided to stay on the move to avoid suspicions. For the last two weeks Itachi had shared his life and opened up to someone, and that is something that the Uchiha had never done before.

He had gotten close to her, and now that he knew more about her, he wasn't able to let go. He needed her as much as he needed air.

He thought of his mother and what she had told him the day that his father told him that the clan was planning on arranging a marriage between him and another Uchiha kunoichi.

_"Son, I know that this is not what any mother wants for their child, but as clan heir there will be some things that you will have to do for the sake and well-being of the clan and the village. I know that you will do great things and although you are only eleven, you have seen more than Sasuke will ever see. I am sorry for the arranged marriage, but that is something that I cannot change. Maybe with time you can bring about change in our clan. Make it something to be proud of."_

_He looked at his mother and said, "Mother, I understand what is expected of me, but how can I make the woman who I will one day marry happy?" She ruffled his hair and said, "Itachi, just by being considerate of her happiness before you have even met her, will mean that you will know exactly what to do when the time comes. My son, I know you have a good heart and will care for whoever is chosen, but I also want you to be happy. You might not be able to show it in public but when you are alone with her, make sure that you get to know her, the real her. Respect her abilities and skills as a kunoichi, stand next to her in all that you do together, whether in battle or at home. But most importantly, make her smile. The smiles that she gives you in private will be yours alone and she will come to love you."_

Mikoto's words were deeply prophetic and his conversations with his mother always seemed to come to mind at the most opportune moments.

How he missed her…. Itachi imagined that his mother probably would have liked Sakura.

Itachi looked out of the window and gazed at the stars and whispered, "Mother, I'm in love with her…. Please watch over her when I am not with her."

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the slow even breaths from the woman in his arms.

The whole time that he was with her, he was planning on how they both could be happy, yet still be able to give her friends and his brother some way to accept their relationship.

He needed to fight Sasuke, he needed his brother to finally let go of the need for revenge.

His thoughts went back to the woman before him. She had confessed her love to him and he only had a couple more weeks with her before she had to return to Konoha.

He felt her stir and quickly looked at her and noticed that her eyes were tightly shut and she had begun to clutch his shirt.

Sakura gripped his shirt and said, "Sasuke, please don't!"

Itachi clenched his jaw at the thought of Sakura having a nightmare about his brother.

He kissed her forehead, gently smoothed out her hair, but he couldn't wake her up.

Sakura began to breath erratically and then screamed, "Itachi! Don't die on me!"

She was having a nightmare of him dying in a battle with his younger brother. Itachi was heartened at the thought of her caring for him, even in her dreams, but he didn't want her to suffer nightmares because of it.

He gently kissed her and kept saying her name until she opened her eyes.

Sakura felt Itachi kissing her, gently holding her, whispering that it was ok and that he was there for her.

She had the most horrible nightmare of Sasuke killing Itachi while she watched and couldn't do anything about it.

She looked up to see Itachi's jet-black eyes and was able to finally catch her breath. She clung to his chest, wanting to make sure that he was real, that he was safe and uninjured.

She whispered, "Itachi, you're ok… you're safe, thank goodness."

He kissed her forehead and whispered, "I am here Sakura, I will always be by your side, no one will take you away from me."

Tears were streaming down her face as she continued to remember fragments of the dream.

He gently whispered, "Tell me what you dreamt of."

She softly cried into his chest telling him of her nightmare, her words struck something deep within him and he had an overwhelming emotion to protect her. Sasuke had hurt her in the past and he swore to himself that she would never be hurt by anyone ever again. He would not go through with his original plan to fight Sasuke if it would affect her this way. He would find another way.

The moonlight filled their room and he tried to coax her into going back to sleep.

Itachi could still feel her body shiver but she soon began to relax into his embrace. He didn't fall asleep until he felt the steady rhythm of her breathing once more.

The following morning they set out towards another village that was about two days travel.

As they journeyed through the trees, Itachi and Sakura were on high alert for any other shinobi that might be travelling the area. As evening approached, Itachi asked Sakura if she wanted to stop and make camp.

She nodded and they soon came across a secluded area with a nearby river and small cave that would shelter them from the night's colder temperatures.

Once they set up camp, Itachi used a katon jutsu to make a campfire to keep them warm.

They sat down and looked at their simple meal of grilled fish and some leftover onigiri.

He smiled and said, "I must compliment you on your culinary skills. I can see why my old captain spilled my secrets to you"

She chuckled and said, "Just you watch it, you haven't even begun to see me in action in the kitchen."

The joke helped lighten the mood and Sakura found it easy to smile when she was around the elder Uchiha. He was so different from Sasuke. Where Sasuke was always cold and detached, Itachi only gave the illusion of it to strangers, but at heart he was gentle and caring of her needs and emotions.

By nightfall they had gone into the small cave and Itachi took the first watch.

As he watched Sakura sleep, thoughts of his brother and Konoha began to invade his mind.

Sakura was willing to leave everything behind for him but he knew that he needed to leave Akatsuki as well. There was no point in making her out to be a wanted criminal and be hunted down by her own friends, so with the genius tactical mind that he had, he came up with a plan that might work and give them the freedom that they both sought. He needed her to be sure that this is what she truly wanted. His plan would be a permanent change in their lives and they would not be able to go back to the life they had before.

Itachi woke up the next morning and found Sakura about twenty yards away from him doing some katas.

He watched the fluidity of her movements and even though she should have done them faster, she was taking her time going through the motions. Her eyes were closed and she was relying on her other senses as she moved into a different set.

He flashed step behind her and then suddenly held her close to his body. He pressed one hand to her abdomen as his other intertwined with her hand that was holding her katana.

She leaned back and let him dictate the movements.

Itachi was proficient in many weapons but a katana was one of his specialties. He moved with her, going through a different set of katas, but maintaining her pace. She noticed the change and kept her eyes closed as she memorized his movements. He leaned in close and whispered, "I admire your skill. You are an exceptional shinobi."

She looked at him, surprised by his praise. People usually underestimated her upon meeting her, but once they saw her strength, they were too scared to approach her. Itachi was different, he not only acknowledge her strength, he praised it.

He gave her a quick kiss in the cheek and walked away towards their camp. He looked back at her and suddenly threw an apple in her direction. She quickly spun around and sliced it in half with her katana. She caught one half and he reached out and caught the other one. He smirked and said, "Impressive culinary skills, love. Thank you for breakfast."

She was shocked at the term of endearment and wasn't able to come up with a good comeback.

He smiled as he took a bite of his half of the apple and said "Let's go, I think we can make it to the next village by lunch time."

They raced through the trees, effectively making good time despite the chill in the air.

This village was less inhabited by shinobi and it wasn't very well-traveled, but it was right at the edge of a mountain and it had a spectacular view.

Itachi had been in this village before, so he knew exactly where to go. Both had already their henge in place and moved towards the road to enter the village like any other civilian.

He took her to an inn that was a little off the main part of the village, nestled along the side of the mountain.

As they went inside the inn, Sakura noticed that the rooms in this particular inn where luxurious and had private gardens. She didn't catch what Itachi had told the owner but when the owner personally escorted them to a secluded suite at the edge of the building, Sakura noticed that the garden in their room had a private hot spring.

She gasped and Itachi leaned in to capture her lips as he whispered, "Only the best for my beloved."

She blushed and then noticed the owner bowing to them congratulating them on their recent nuptials. Sakura bowed her head as well and then the owner excused himself after assuring Itachi that they would not be disturbed for the remainder of their stay.

As Itachi closed the door, he turned to Sakura and said, "Do you like this?"

Sakura could only nod but after a while she said, "Itachi, we could be in the hot desert of Suna, or the freezing mountains in Snow and I would be happy if you are by my side. This is too much."

He grinned and shook his head slightly murmuring, "It will never be enough… You mean too much to me."

Sakura blushed again at his words and said, "Itachi should we unpack?"  
He nodded and walked to help her put away their things and place protection jutsus around the room. Itachi placed a silencing jutsu around the perimeter, no one would be able to listen in to whatever was said in that room.

Sakura changed after a quick shower and then waited for Itachi to ready himself. He had told her that they would go to a little restaurant just down the road.

As they walked to said restaurant, Sakura asked, "Itachi, have you been here before?"

He smiled at her and said, "Yes, my mother had told me about this place once and I came here alone a couple of years ago when my illness flared up. I guess the mountain air did me some good and I left after a week or two."

The restaurant was very romantic and just made for couples. It had a set of gardens that wrapped around the back of the property that had beautiful views of the village below. After their late lunch they walked through the gardens and sat in one of the benches.

Itachi leaned in and told Sakura of what he was planning to do about Sasuke. She was horrified and saddened in the beginning, but as she heard his whole explanation she knew that he had thought about all the possible variables and outcomes. She trusted him and after giving him her input and having him agree with her suggestions, she agreed to do exactly what he said. She was sure that this is what she wanted and knew that ultimately it would solve many of the problems that would have affected their relationship.

Itachi then asked her to go to town with her for the rest of the evening. He wanted to take her to a spot that he found last time that he was here.

After seeing a couple of shops they got to a secluded part of the village and went along the dirt trail that led up the side of the mountain. The sun had not set yet, so they figured that it would be a perfect opportunity to be alone together.

Both were quick to reach the top and Sakura was absolutely impressed with the view.

She had been atop of the Hokage mountain back in Konoha plenty of times before, but the view that she had from this mountain was breathtaking. The village was small enough to be hidden among the trees and not disturb the natural beauty that surrounded it. There was a waterfall that was beginning to freeze over because of the temperatures and the freshly fallen snow made everything look absolutely renewed.

Sakura took in the view of the sun setting in the horizon and breathed out, "It's so beautiful!"

He kept looking at the profile of her face, his Sharingan seeing through the illusion, and said, "I know, it really is." There was no way that a simple view could compare to what he was looking at, but he made no move to correct her. He breathed into her ear, "Dispel the jutsu. I want to see you."

She quietly raised her fingers and softly said, "Kai!"

Her pink locks were now beginning to be filled with some slight snow flurries.

Itachi leaned in and took her cheeks softly in his hands so she could look at him. She closed her eyes as she felt the snow fall on her face and then suddenly felt the soft kiss that Itachi placed on her eyelids, effectively removing the snowflakes that were just there a second ago.

His soft breath fanned her face and she slowly opened her eyes to look at him.

She saw the crimson Sharingan but there was a softness to his eyes that simply said all the emotions that he felt.

He continued to look at her and then said, "I love you."

Sakura actually felt her knees go weak and he steadied her with his arms. The pink haired kunoichi moved one of his bangs out of the way and said, "I love you too."

The next thing that she felt was how he held her in his arms and they both disappeared in a flock of crows, only to reappear in the garden of their own room.

She looked at him and then he said, "We can wait if you don't want this yet."

Sakura kissed him and pulled him in close to her. She had begun to shiver and he wasn't sure if it was because of their current position or because of the cold.

After she placed her freezing hands around his neck he knew that he needed to warm her up before she got sick.

He softly kissed her, slowing her down until she was a bit breathless. He whispered, "How about we go to the hot spring first and then we will… "

He was actually nervous.

Uchiha Itachi was nervous.

He wanted their first time together to be perfect and he didn't want to rush it.

She loosened her grip on him and then nodded.

They both went into the room and Sakura said that she would go and get ready in the bathroom. He sensed her nervousness as well and took her hand to place a kiss on her palm and say, "I will be waiting for you."

While she got undressed in the bathroom, he looked around the room and set up some things around the room for him to use after they got out of the springs.

He took out some extra towels and placed them near one of the rock formations that surrounded the spring. Even though it was cold outside, the hot springs would provide the heat that they needed. He quickly took his clothes off and neatly folded them and placed them in a nearby chair. He put on a dark gray yukata and then waited for his beloved to come out of the bathroom. He secretly hoped that she wasn't having any second thoughts.

Before his thoughts took a darker path, he heard the soft opening of the bathroom door and Sakura came out in a light grey yukata. She had most of her hair up in the hairpin that he had bought her, while her bangs framed her face.

She looked up at him.

When she saw his soft smile, all of her insecurities melted away.

He took her hand and led her through the garden to the private hot springs.

She squeezed his hand as they reached the springs and was about to untie the knot of her yukata when he stopped her hands and said, "Please let me."

She stood still and he slowly turned her around so her back was to his chest. His arms wrapped around her waist and he slowly untied the knot but made no move to remove the garment yet.

He untied his own yukata but also left it on. He lightly tapped the cherry blossoms on her hairpin and heard the soft chime as they twinkled together.

Itachi took his time and with Sharingan activated, slowly began to kiss the shell of her ear as he made his way to the back of her neck. A gasp was his response and then a soft moan as he continued to kiss her shoulders as he softly moved the fabric out-of-the-way.

He moved the fabric lower and when she felt her back exposed she tightened her grip on the fabric by instinct.

He didn't miss her reaction and he softly whispered, "I can stop… I won't force you to do anything that you don't want to."

Sakura shook her head and then softly said, "I don't want you to feel bad when you see it."

He suddenly remembered their first encounter.  
He kissed her neck and slowly moved her hands away from the fabric. He continued to kiss her and she let go of the fabric, that's when he saw it. It wasn't as bad as he remembered but it was there nonetheless.

The scar that marred her skin was proof of what he did to her. He whispered, "I'm sorry love. I didn't know what else to do." Itachi could still smell the burning skin, her painful scream and then the soft whimpers as she fell into a dreamless sleep. He slowly traced the scar and placed soft kisses on it.

She moaned softly and said, "You saved my life. This is proof. I didn't want to get rid of it because of that, but I never wanted you to feel bad about it."

He stilled for a second but then continued to kiss her and she breathed out a sigh of relief.

Itachi then took off his yukata and stepped into the spring. He slowly took off the rest of the material of her yukata, and then guided her into the spring.

She slowly turned around and faced him.

He noticed the blush on her cheeks, but saw the trust and love in her eyes.

Somehow she saw the same emotions in the crimson Sharingan as well.

They both sunk into the warm water and for the first time in a long time, Itachi closed his eyes and relaxed as soft arms wrapped around his waist.

After several moments, Sakura began to caress his shoulders. Itachi let a soft moan escape his lips and Sakura gently maneuvered her way around him so that she could give him a proper back massage.

She used some of her chakra and removed all the sore spots in his muscles.

He was being lifted to heaven by her angelic hands.

When she finished, Itachi slowly turned around and kissed her gently on the lips. He whispered, "Thank you love."

She smiled at him and then he gently wrapped his arms around her.

He let her relax into his arms and then she sighed in contentment.

Sakura looked up at him and said, "Itachi, this is wonderful… thank you."

The smile on his face was genuine but Sakura could have sworn that there was a slight mischievous glint to his eyes that sparked something deep in her.

He practically had her on his lap and she could feel his pulse quicken with her caresses. He leaned in to capture her lips.

She breathed out his name and then softly said, "Please… Itachi…"

He needed no further instructions and he deepened the kiss as he gently picked her up from the springs.

He grabbed a towel and put it around her to keep her warm as he walked the couple of feet into their room.

Once inside, he closed the room and softly dried her skin. She then took the towel and did the same for him.

The room was already dark and Sakura forgot to leave a light on for when they returned.

She suddenly felt Itachi do a couple of hand seals and then tiny fireballs came from his mouth and were aimed exactly where he had left some candles. Sakura wondered how she miss those when she left the bathroom.

The room was now alight by soft candlelight and she was finally able to take a good look at her lover's body.

He didn't try to hide himself from her, but she had to stop her trembling fingers at the sight of him. She slowly brought her hand and ran it down his shoulders to his forearms. She then ran her hands upwards once more, feeling his biceps flex at her touch. He was lean, not bulky or too thin, just made of pure lean muscle that was sculpted and toned. Her eyes roamed over his abdomen and chest and then finally found their way up to his face.

She looked shy at first but as she ran her hands up and down his arms he saw a confidence blossom in her as she looked at his chest, then abs, then lower still, before moving back up to his face.

The blush in her face was a lovely shade of pink that rivaled her hair. His Sharingan memorized every detail of her every movement, every breath she took and the way that she lovingly looked at him.

He approached her and softly ran his fingers through her hair and let his hand rest at the base of her neck. He leaned in and took her soft pink lips in his. The kiss was soft and gentle, he didn't want to scare her or push her into something that she wasn't ready for.

Sakura took a deep breath and then grabbed his hand and placed it on her hip, silently giving him permission to take what she already knew belonged to him.

Itachi slowly ran his hands along her hips, resting one hand on the small of her back as his other hand travelled up towards the underside of her breast, softly caressing her. His actions elicited a soft moan to escape her lips.

He guided her towards the futon that he had set up before hand. With each kiss that they shared, they wordlessly told each other what they felt for one another.

Itachi held her hand as he softly laid her down, watching the way that her hair fanned out on the pillow. He hovered over her, holding his weight on his arms.

The intensity of his gaze was so strong but she dared not look away. She wanted Itachi to know every part of her soul.

Emerald gazed into crimson and with and imperceptible nod from his beloved he began to kiss his way down her throat to the swell of her breasts. She entangled one hand in his hair softly saying his name as he took one soft mound into his mouth, slowly twirling his tongue on her sensitive flesh. Itachi explored her body, every curve and plane he lavished with his kiss. The softness of his touch was something that contrasted with the sheer power that he wielded in the battlefield.

When he reached her womanhood, he looked up to see her reaction as his thumb slowly pressed her sensitive bundle in a slow circular pattern. Her body arched and he held her by her waist as he continued his soft torturous pace. She saw stars as she let the feelings engulf her body.

Itachi slowly inserted a finger into her folds and began to move it in and out.

Her whimpers were the only thing that could be heard as he lowered his head and slowly licked her wetness.

Sakura's eyes flew open at the new sensations. She looked down only to be caught in a swirl of crimson and black. He replayed her emotions to her and it only managed to increase the sensations ten fold as she fell apart.

Sakura had no idea that this is what Ino had always been bragging to her about.

She could only stare at the man who made her feel like he was only concerned with her pleasure and wellbeing. Itachi made his way back up to her neck, kissing certain strategic places that he had discovered were extra sensitive.

She breathed out, "Itachi… I… Please… I need… you"

He had held back, wanting to pleasure her and make their first time memorable. He groaned out, "I love you Sakura… " as she kissed the hollow of his neck softly nipping at his skin with her teeth. She whispered, "I will always love you Itachi... My Itachi."

Hearing her words he settled himself between her thighs and then aligned himself with her entrance.

Her wetness had begun to coat him and he slowly pushed in, taking his time to enjoy the warmth that she provided.

Sakura felt herself being stretched out and knew that she should probably tell him to do it quickly to avoid anymore pain.

Her fingers tugged at his hair gently and she whispered, "Itachi… Now… please.."

He couldn't resist anymore and he closed his eyes reveling in the sensations as she groaned out a strangled version of his name when he thrust into her, finally sheathing himself inside her. He looked at her face, there was a slight grimace of pain and a lone tear that escaped her eye. His surprise was evident in the way that he gasped and held her closer to him. He now knew that this was the first time that she had been with a man.

Itachi stilled to allow her to adjust to him, all the while he kissed her and stroked her hair with one hand as he gently ghosted his hand up and down her side, softly cupping her breast. He inched his face closer and kissed away her tear.  
Itachi whispered, "I'm sorry…"

"No… don't be… This.. I only wanted my first time to be with the person that I loved."

He kissed her forehead and then slowly kissed her eyelids and then made his way back down to her lips. Sakura kissed him back as he slowly started to move.

Sakura thought of how gentle he was, distracting her from the pain with his kisses.

Those lips, that burned a trail of fire with each kiss he placed on her skin, were invisibly marking her and claiming her as his.

The soft candle light only accented the light sheen on her body and made him almost lose control of himself. She began to respond with each soft thrust and met each of his kisses with her own.

The soft cries of pleasure coming from his lover, began to drive him wild as she exclaimed his name when she found her release.

She was the bright light in his dark life and he couldn't help but to lose himself in her warmth.

The way that she ran her fingers through his hair, gently tugging, urging him to find his own release made him quicken his pace. This only seemed to intensify her own climax as her inner walls fluttered with the aftershocks of her orgasm.

Sakura's eyes rolled back and she screamed out his name. He had never seen a more beautiful sight in his life; he reached his climax as he gave a small grunt and whispered her name.

* * *

A/N: I have to ask you guys to listen to the song "Close to the Flame" by HIM. When I wrote the final scene of this chapter I was listening to this song and it just set the mood. It is the perfect lyrics and the tempo just matched perfectly to what I had in mind. Please check it out and tell me what you think.

Longest chapter so far, Please review!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 10

* * *

It was early. Sakura opened her eyes and felt arms wrapped tightly around her waist and Itachi's soft breath fanning her neck. His long raven locks covered her exposed breasts. He was still asleep and she didn't want to disturb him.

Her thoughts of Itachi and his gentle touch were lulling her back to sleep as she listened to the steady breathing pattern of her lover.

After a few minutes she felt him stir and he tightened his grip on her and breathed out, "Good morning Love"

She stroked his soft hair and kissed the top of his head as she whispered, "I love you Itachi."

He moved a little and then began to kiss the hollow of her neck as he said, "And you know that I love you."

She groaned out, "Yes… I… Ooh.. Itachi do that again…"

She felt him grin and say, "Oh this…" and proceeded to kiss her in a special spot along her jaw line.

Her shivers confirmed that he hit the right spot, and he memorized its location to use it later on her.

As he continued to kiss his way down her neck he whispered to her, "Sakura, are you hurt?"

She shook her head and said to him, "I'm a little sore but it's nothing like being stabbed, burned, poisoned, or surviving a training session with Tsunade-sama. Please don't think that you hurt me in any way last night… I… I can't describe how… complete I feel when I am with you."

The kisses continued to trail down her shoulder.

He was so distracting.

He then whispered, "I need you…"

She gently stroked his hair and when he looked up to meet her gaze they were lost in the depths of emerald and onyx.

There was a sudden urgency in him. He needed to have her, he needed to show her the claim that she had on him.

Sakura seemed to pick up on the intense emotions rolling off of him and she kissed him with the passion that reflected in his onyx eyes.

This was a contrast to the soft gentle side that he showed her last night. She knew that he took his time with her for their first time but the realization that they didn't have that much time together hit her hard.

They had been together for about two and a half weeks and would probably only get a couple more days before she had to report back. She didn't regret spending the two weeks to really get to know each other, but it was a whirlwind of a relationship and she felt in her heart that they understood each other in a deeper level after everything that they shared. She knew more about him and his past than anyone else, and her heart told her that there would be no one else that would have the hold on her that he possessed.

He deepened their kiss and slowly bit her lower lip, eliciting a small gasp. As she parted her lips he ran his tongue along her lower lip, begging for entrance. She leaned into him and he took advantage and entered her mouth, tasting her as his hands pulled her flush against his chest. Sakura gripped his arms and he settled himself between her thighs.

Her breath hitched with each kiss, each urgent touch and she moaned out his name as he fully sheathed himself and started to thrust into her. This was a different side to Itachi; she felt the fierceness that laid dormant within him.

She breathed out, "Itachi… faster…" She needed to feel him; they both needed to give into their need to be together, to make up for the time that they lost. His Sharingan captured her gaze and she once again was plunged into images and emotions of their night before. The feeling of having both experiences, gentle and loving, and urgent and passionate, simultaneously was too much for her. She came undone and Itachi could only grip her tighter as she rode out her climax. Sakura had a second of clarity and then sent small chakra burst to her inner walls; Itachi's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he released his seed into his one and only, almost growling out her name, as he sunk into her welcoming arms.

She was his and he belonged completely to her.

Both lovers sought comfort in each other and only left the confines of their room for an early dinner and a stroll through the town.

The rest of their four-day stay was filled with many more rounds of lovemaking and they discovered how much they enjoyed each other's company. Their conversations were intellectually stimulating for both of them, and they found that their viewpoints complimented each other. Sakura asked more about his pacifistic views and Itachi questioned some of the ethical dilemmas that she had to face in ANBU and the hospital.

On the last day of their stay in the small village in the mountains, they ate dinner and Itachi said, "I need to tell you about the intel that I collected for Konoha. I will give you enough intel to justify your time away from the village but I will have to return to the Akatsuki so they don't get suspicious."

She nodded but a wave of sadness came over her and she looked down at her food. He noticed and went to her side to hold her. Sakura clutched at his shirt, burying her face in his chest.

He cradled her head, and smoothed out her hair as he gently asked, "What's wrong my love?"

"Now that I have you, I don't want to let go… I know that what I'm about to do is hard, it will hurt my friends but I can't even imagine what you have had to go through. I don't want you to go back to the Akatsuki, but I understand your reasons. I… just wish that things could be different… I wish that you didn't have to go through what you did in the past.."

He kissed the top of her head and said, "I know love, but we might not have ever met. I would have already been married to a woman who I didn't love, you wouldn't have pushed yourself to do the things that you have done. Love, look at me… everything happens for a reason. I am with you now and I will be with you always. I am no longer lost in this darkness, and I have a new purpose. I want the life that I should have had, and that you deserve. I am just sorry that we have to hurt your loved ones… maybe… one day… maybe one day we can make it right again."

She smiled and said, "Everyone deserves a second chance, right?" as she slightly turned her back so he could trace the scar along her back.

Itachi lightly stroked her cheek and kissed her on the forehead and said, "and for that I am eternally grateful."

He took her hand and led her to the nearby couch where he held her in his lap.

"Sakura I need for you to remember all that I am about to tell you, so you can report back to Tsunade-sama."

After Itachi disclosed some of the Akatsuki compounds and safe houses, he explained the reason he kept throwing off the search for Naruto and where the Leaf's security was lacking along the border.

He had a suspicion that Pein was being controlled by someone else, because he felt that there were some bits of information that Pein wouldn't have access to, he had to be given the information to further his plan. She was surprised by how many times Itachi had the opportunity to take Naruto through all of these years, yet he somehow fooled Akatsuki without looking weak in their eyes.

He truly was a genius, in his plans, and expectations of other people's reactions.

That night after they finished planning and writing down the intel in a report, they laid in the futon looking out towards the glass sliding doors that led to the garden.

Itachi knew that Sakura needed to start heading back to Konoha and would be leaving him soon.

She looked at him and knew that he was thinking of her return to the village.

"Itachi, I know that we have gone over our plan but I don't want you to worry. I will be coming to you as soon as I can… I just need to make sure I leave Konoha with a clear mind and a calm heart. I couldn't do it any other way."

"I understand Love, do not worry about me, I will be sure to clear up my issues with Sasuke as well."

She gripped his hand and looked at him and said, "I know that you will never stop loving him, will you be ok with your new plan?"  
He nodded once but then turned around to gently kiss her on her lips. Itachi needed to be in the warmth of his lover one last time before they left the following day.

After their breakfast Sakura looked at her ANBU uniform and said, "Itachi, no one will believe me that I was on a recon mission for the last couple of weeks with my armor in such pristine condition. We need to stop somewhere and we need to spar."

"No."

"What?"

"I will not willingly try to harm you. I just can't do that without thinking of all the ways that I could kill you. I can't do that."

She shook her head, sighed, and wrapped her arms around Itachi and said, "I don't want you to do that either, but I need to make it believable. Maybe if you think of it as defensive training… Yeah, think of it as trying to stop me from getting hurt. I will try to purposely injure myself and you try to get me to stop. I just need to get a bit dirty, you don't have to land a hit. I could just say that I healed all of my injuries."

He laughed at her logic and then leaned in and using a sinfully seductive voice said, "I can help you get a bit dirty."

His voice alone sent shivers down her spine and a heated pool of warmth clenched her lower abdomen.

"Itachi…"

"Yes, my love?"

"I… I…"

He kissed the special place along her jaw line.

She gasped and held onto him to stay steady.

The sexual tension increased ten-fold and he whispered, "Please put on your ANBU gear, Sa..Ku..Ra… I will meet you outside and we can head to a nearby field to 'train'. I will pay the owner and meet you there in ten minutes."

He silently walked out of the room and took his pack, leaving the flustered kunoichi to change.

They met outside of the inn and they walked hand in hand to the outskirts of town before taking to the trees to a nearby clearing for their 'spar'.

Sakura stood in the middle of the field and closed her eyes, spreading her senses to search for Itachi.

He was so good that there was no trace of his chakra anywhere. It's like he was a ghost, a shadow, not even there.

She held her katana in one hand and when she felt his breath on the back of her neck, he managed to grip her waist and whisper, "Hold it like this, it makes it a bit easier. Let it flow from you, don't tense your muscles, and stand like this in your initial attack. It will give you more momentum and take them by surprise."

She shadowed his movements and after a good thirty minutes he said, "Ok Love, come at me and I will try to stop you from hurting yourself."  
He smirked, anyone that came at him head on was asking to get hurt, but he would never harm her, not her. She was his now and he would protect her at all costs.

She tried to get a single hit on him but he easily dodged her movements. Sakura became frustrated and then uprooted a tree and threw it in the sky. She wanted to see if he would be able to dodge it while trying to defend against her attacks. As the tree was coming back down, she noticed how he lunged and then moved quickly to wrap his arms around her and break their fall by rolling to the ground. He covered her head and took the impact of the fall full on, as he held her close to his chest. As they tumbled out of the way, Sakura could only hold on to him and hear his heartbeat.

Her uniform was now dirty and she had some small scrapes, but what she didn't expect was the kiss that Itachi gave her when they came to a stop.

He looked at her and said, "You are one, incredibly strong woman. I know that you would hold your own against any member of the Akatsuki, I just can't attack you head on. We can do some more training with your katana but I just can't do hand-to-hand."  
She was a bit breathless and just nodded.

He took out a scroll and released it and his own katana appeared. He instructed her on how to improve her attacks and how to defend against him.

"Remember the kata's from before!" he yelled at her.

She remembered the different style he taught her and she moved with an increased speed and improved momentum.

Every time that he saw an opening he would kiss her or touch her body in a way that distracted her to no end. She sometimes wished that he would attack her head on, this type of distraction was so effective that he pinned her to a tree at one point, and hungrily kissed her until she was dazed and breathless.

By the time that they were done parts of her uniform were torn and her armor was smudged with dirt.

Itachi then disappeared and appeared a couple of yards away holding his katana in a defensive stance. She tried to clear her thoughts and attack but he was extremely skilled and dodged her attacks with ease. He never aimed for her skin or tried to cut her.

The soft smile that he had as they finished made her heart flutter, as he said, "You are amazing, my love. You took my advice and integrated your own fighting style. I'm impressed."

She was breathless and dripping in sweat, but she was happy with his compliment on her skills.

He was definitely different from Sasuke. Her old teammate probably would have just told her how annoying she was or how weak she was compared to him.

She caught herself thinking about the younger Uchiha and then forced herself to push those thoughts away from her mind. She refused to have Sasuke interfere with her life anymore. He had taken her happiness before, he would not do it again.

After their 'spar' they collected their things and began to run towards Konoha.

Before they got to the closest ANBU post, Itachi stopped her and pulled her into an embrace as he landed on one of the larger tree branches.

He looked deep into her eyes and said, "Thank you for reminding me of who I really am. I will be waiting for you, my love."

The look that she gave him was almost pleading, she said, "Always?"

He nodded and said, "I will wait for you with open arms. When we see each other again, no one will take us apart."

She kissed him once more said, "I love you" and then disappeared in a flurry of cherry blossom petals.

He caught some of them in his hand as they began to dissolve into small snippets of her chakra.

He brought his fingers to his lips and then said to himself, 'Not even death will separate us, my love.'

* * *

Sakura appeared a couple of meters before the outpost sentry.

She had her mask in place and flared her chakra so they could recognize her.

The sentry recognized her and waved her through. She nodded and continued on her way towards Konoha.

When she go there, she made her way to the Hokage Tower to report.

As she glanced towards the closed doors of her Hokage's office she heard the familiar sounds of her shishou throwing random objects at a poor shinobi. Whoever they were probably screwed up royally to receive her wrath. At least she hadn't started complaining of running out of saké….

"Shizune! Where is my sake?!" She heard through the double doors, followed by a glass shattering.

She chuckled underneath her ANBU mask.

Sakura flared her chakra, hopefully to give whoever was her target practice a chance to dodge.

"Come in!"

Sakura opened the door and then felt the eyes of a very grateful group of medic nins that she knew very well but couldn't acknowledge while in ANBU uniform.

Shizune and Tsunade gave a sigh of relief at seeing her and then Tsunade ordered everyone else to get out of her office.

As soon as the medic nins left and closed the doors, Tsunade smiled at her apprentice and said, "I am glad that you are back. How was the mission?"  
Sakura blushed and thankfully she still had her mask in place. She would remove it only after handing over her report that she grasped a little bit tighter in her hand.

She bowed and said, "Hokage-sama, the mission was a success. I was able to do some reconnaissance of my own and I was able to come in contact with the informant."

Her words were truthful, although a bit warped in how she actually came in contact with the informant. Sakura handed the scroll over and when Tsunade opened it, she smiled at the wealth of information.

"Good job, mission completed."

Sakura then took off her mask and smiled at her mentor.

"Sakura have you come to a decision on what I had offered you?"  
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Sakura bowed her head and said, "I wish to stay in ANBU. I understand the need for me in the hospital, but I know that with the changes that I had made prior to my departure, the staff can handle the workload. My comrades on the field are in constant life and death situations and need my skills on the field and in their training. I wish to continue teaching the ANBU field medics."

Tsunade's eyes closed for a second and then she said, "I respect your wishes. You are an exceptional medic and a formidable fighter. ANBU is lucky to have you. I do ask for you to finish your work at the hospital and get your things ready to start a training regimen for ANBU medics."  
"Hai. Hokage-sama. If I might ask, what did those medics do to get you so upset?"  
Tsunade's eyebrow twitched at the reminder and then she said, "They screwed up the last months reports and had me think that there was a breach in the poisons and antidotes medication laboratory. I thought that I might have to deal with a disastrous situation involving some deadly poisons."

Sakura's jaw clenched and she was visibly upset at the thought of such a careless mistake.

She said, "Tsunade-sama if you will excuse me I believe that I might need to talk with my staff before I official finish at the hospital. That was a careless mistake and shouldn't happen at our hospital."

Tsunade smiled at her pupil and said, "Take today off and give them hell tomorrow. You look like you could use the rest. I am glad that you were able to gather this much information in such a short time."

Sakura maintained her face as stoic as possible, at the thought of how her armor and clothing got to be the way that they were.

Itachi… his lips… his burning kiss that scorched every part of her body…

Sakura was brought back to reality by Naruto bursting through the door.

The minute that he felt her presence back in Konoha, Naruto made his way to the Hokage Tower.

"Sakura-chan! You are back!"

Sakura chuckled and then hugged him as he lifted her off the floor and twirled her around in a bear hug.

"Hey Naruto. I was just leaving, how about we go out and grab some lunch?"  
His eyes sparkled and he said, "I have some great news for you. Let's go before Baa-chan sends you off on another mission."  
Tsunade laughed and said, "You two get out of here, but I need Sakura at the hospital tomorrow morning."

They walked out of her office and Sakura told Naruto that she needed to go home to change first.

Once in her apartment, Naruto sat on her couch as Sakura went to take a shower and change.

She left her pack in her closet and hid the sealing scroll that still contained Itachi's cloak and the cherry blossom hairpin that he had given her.

"Sakura-chan! Come on, I'm hungry!"  
"Ok Naruto, I'm ready, let's go!"  
They walked to their favorite ramen stand and after they ordered their meals Naruto started telling her about how his relationship with Hinata was going. They had made some progress with her dad and he didn't openly scowl every time that he saw them together.

"Naruto, how are Kakashi, Yamato and Sai?"

"Ah, you know how they are, Kaka-sensei is the same as always. He just came back from a mission two days ago. Yamato and Sai are out of the village on a mission till the end of the week, but they are doing just fine like always."

She smiled at him. Naruto then said, "Hey Sakura I want to ask you something?"

"Sure, what's on your mind?"  
"Will you stay in ANBU, even when I become Hokage?"

She shrugged and said, "I don't know Naruto, I guess we won't know til we get there. A lot can happen, I might just change my mind and stay in the hospital or I might step down and become a jounin sensei."  
He laughed and said, "You know Sakura, you would be one scary sensei."

"I would not! If I ever did that I know that I would be a great sensei!"

"I know Sakura-chan, I am just teasing. I guess what I meant is that I want you to be happy, you know, have a social life. Get to know someone and be happy. Whoever you find would have to pass through me and Kaka-sensei first, before they get to date you, but as hard as it is for me to say, I really wish you would find someone to make you as happy as Hinata makes me."

She smiled, looking into those deep blue eyes that held the sincerity of his words. She wanted to tell him that she found the man that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, but she had to keep that secret for now.

"I know Naruto, it's just that I don't have time for that right now. My schedule is kinda hectic and I don't know that there are any guys out there that are willing to be brave enough to ask." In her mind there was only one, and he would be able to blow away any competition.

Naruto wrapped an arm around her shoulder and said, "Don't you worry Sakura-chan, I know that there is someone out there for ya. You are pretty awesome when you are not freakishly scary."

She let that pass and only raised an eyebrow in his direction.

He stammered out, "I didn't mean it like that!"

She sighed and said, "It's ok Naruto. Do you know about everyone else?"

He nodded and began to tell her all about what was going on with the Konoha Eleven since she was gone. They all seemed to be happy and had their own lives that seemed to be progressing at an alarming rate. Apparently, Kiba was going to become head of the Inuzuka clan in a couple of months, and Shino was engaged to someone from his clan. That had been a shocker, but she knew that the clan heirs had responsibilities and would be following their parents footsteps in a couple of years. Lee was still Lee and still hung out and trained with Gai-sensei religiously.

Neji and Tenten had a not so secret relationship, but no one was going to mention anything to the Hyuga clan until Naruto and Hinata announce their official courtship to the village elders.

She didn't even bother asking about Ino because she knew that once she saw her she would willingly tell her everything going on with her team.

Sakura soon had to go and decided to head to the memorial stone to see if she could catch her old sensei.

Sure enough she found her the Copy Ninja standing in front of the memorial. He turned and waved her over.

"How are you doing Sakura? I hope your mission went well."  
"Yeah, I'm fine, just recon. Nothing major, no fights, pretty uneventful. How have you been?"

He gave her his signature masked, eye crinkling smile that put her at ease.

"I've been good, just got back from a mission a couple of days ago. Did you decide on Tsunade-sama's offer?"  
She smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm gonna stay in ANBU for now. I think when I finally find someone and settle down I'll quit and go back to healing people for a living."  
He ruffled her hair and said, "Just don't wait until you are my age to start doing that, it gets harder and… you get colder… lose touch with what's important."  
"Don't say that. You were a great sensei and you are still one of the best shinobi the Leaf has ever had. I don't think that you have lost sight of what's important, and you're not that old!"

He laughed but looked deep in her eyes. Sakura saw something flash in his lone grey eye that she had never seen before, it looked like regret and a bit of longing but it was gone in an instant that she couldn't read what she saw in him.

He recovered and said, "I really hope that I never lose you… and Naruto, the way that we lost…"  
He didn't have to say his name, it was a sore spot for Team 7, but especially for Kakashi. She now had a bit more of a background on her former sensei's ANBU days and knew that he felt even worse because he probably felt that he not only failed as a sensei, but he failed Itachi as well.

She smiled at him and said, "Don't worry we will find him one day, but for now we have to continue to live on."

He squeezed her shoulder and then said, "So you're off today?"  
She nodded and said, "I have hospital rounds tomorrow morning."

He looked down at her and said, "Wanna train?"  
She beamed at him and with a flurry of cherry blossoms she teleported to their old training grounds but made a quick stop at home to get somethings.

Kakashi soon followed with a smirk underneath his mask. It was good to have her back in the village.

He poofed into the training grounds and couldn't find Sakura. He used his senses and was about to worry when he felt a breeze and then a flurry of cherry blossoms surround him as she appeared at his side.

She had two katanas in her hand and she handed him one.

He raised an eyebrow in her direction but she smiled and jumped a ways off and settled in her fighting stance.

Kakashi chuckled as he unsheathed his katana and prepared himself. He noticed that her usual stance was slightly modified, she looked like a panther ready to leap on her pray, absolutely beautiful and deadly.

She came at him with a new confidence and determination, as if she had something to prove to herself.

He was surprised at her speed and fluidity in her attacks. Something about this style reminded him of someone but he couldn't really concentrate on that because her attacks were relentless.  
Sakura smiled and said, "Come on Kakashi… you're better than this."

He jumped back a few yards and said, "You know… I haven't had this kind of spar with you since you entered ANBU. I'm impressed with your skill Sakura. I might have to ask for some missions with you to see how much you have progressed."  
She smiled and attacked once more. Their spar was a combination of taijutsu and weapons. In the middle of the fight he lifted his hitai-ate and his Sharingan took notice of all of her movements.

They had been sparring for a good while when she somehow managed to strike his hand with a bit of chakra and crushed some of the bones in his hand. The katana fell and he felt his legs go out from under him as she swooped down and kicked him. He fell down but wrapped his other arm around her. She noticed how he tightened his grip around her but as his head hit the ground with a resounding thud, his grip suddenly relaxed and he was unconscious.

Sakura let go of her katana and even though she was literally sitting on his lap, she leaned in and placed her healing chakra enhanced fingertips to his temple. She healed his injuries and when his eyes slowly opened, he saw the worried look in her emerald eyes.

Sakura saw his mismatched eyes and when she looked at the crimson of the Sharingan thoughts of Itachi flooded her mind and she quickly got off of her former sensei.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

He nodded and rubbed the back of his head but grimaced in pain as he tried to move his crushed hand.

Sakura gasped and sat next to him. She took his hand in hers as she began to heal the crushed bones.

She apologized and only felt Kakashi move a stray strand of pink behind her ear and say, "Sakura, you don't have to apologize. I have to say, you have improved so much in your fighting skills. I am really impressed, I haven't seen that fighting style in a long time."

She quickly panicked, thinking that he might have noticed some of Itachi's moves. She shrugged and said, "I've been practicing. I thought that this new stance felt more natural."

Kakashi could tell Itachi's distinct style of using the katana. He had been on the opposing side of his blade in too many spars for him to ever forget it.

Could Sakura know something about Itachi that he didn't?

He dismissed the idea away, there was no possibility of her coming into contact with his old ANBU teammate. She would have mentioned it in her report and if she had encountered him, he feared that she might have been seriously outmatched, or worse… dead.

Seeing Itachi's fighting style triggered some feelings that he had tried to repress. Kakashi thought that Sakura would be honest enough to tell him if there was anything going on, so when he saw her easy-going nature and steady gaze, he shook his head and accepted her answer and didn't mention anything.

After she healed his hand, Sakura noticed that he didn't move it immediately away like he usually did, he kept his hand in hers and he said, "Sakura, I know that you are dedicated to ANBU now, I just ask that you don't forget yourself or get lost amongst their ranks. Remember that you have people who care very much for you here."

He gently rubbed his fingers against her knuckles as a blush spread on her cheeks. He then moved his hand away to help himself get up off the ground.

Sakura stood up and dusted herself off and smiled at the tall silver-haired man, who was one of her most precious people. She smiled and said, "Thanks Kakashi, I know that I can always count on you and Naruto to be there for me. I'll see ya around, gonna go and catch up with Ino and the girls."

He smiled and waved as she disappeared in a flurry of cherry blossoms.

He would always be there for her, he care too much to ever let her go.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the late update, but I hope a longer chapter makes up for it.

The beginning part of the chapter is brought to you in part by one of my favorite bands, The Used, the song is called "I Caught Fire". I own nothing, it just happened to be playing on my Ipod as I was writing and it helped me write the first scene. :) Last part with Kakashi was inspired by Audioslave's "Like a Stone". Music inspires me 98% of the time so yes, there is some sort of song going on in the background as I type everything out.

I can't elaborate further on the new plan because it will ruin the ending, so please trust me. Next chapter we get updates on Deidara and Sasuke.

Please review.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 11

* * *

During the past two weeks Sakura made it a point to spend some time with each of her friends. She actually had cleared parts of her schedule to spend one-on-one time with her closest friends.

She spent every afternoon with Kakashi training and then going to dinner with either him or the other members of Team 7. It was as if Sakura wanted to spend as much time as she could with each of them.

They had gotten closer than they ever were, and for some reason Kakashi felt that there was something that she wasn't telling them, but decided to not say anything because of how happy she had been. He ignored her odd behavior and was just happy that the pinkette was spending more time with him and had a genuine smile every time that he was with her.

She had finished a week of work in the hospital and had already started her ANBU Medic training. It amazed Tsunade how Sakura could whip up and implement plans in such little time. Her expertise was renowned all over the Shinobi Nations and many of the skills taught to medic nins were special modifications or new jutsus that Sakura created. One could consider Sakura's notes as medical textbooks in their own right, worthy of grazing the shelves of the Academy. Almost all of the new policies in ANBU field medic training were implemented when Sakura joined ANBU two years ago.

Because of her crazy schedule the upcoming week with ANBU, Ino managed to convince Sakura to go out for a couple of drinks.

It was around 6 pm and she was getting ready. Even though she was visibly exhausted, she promised to spend tonight with Ino and Hinata at a nearby dance club, where the rest of her friends would show up.

The light of her bedroom window was on. Kakashi could sense her moving about the apartment as he looked on from across the street.

He had noticed that there was something different about Sakura and he wasn't sure if it was due to what he had said to her about how hard ANBU could be, or she had simply decided to live a little and not immerse herself in those dangerous missions without enjoying life.

The Copy Ninja crossed the street and silently climbed a tree and looked into her room as she finished getting ready. The pink haired woman was standing in front of the mirror brushing her hair dressed in a black loose fitted skirt that reached her mid-thigh and a red colored sleeveless blouse.

His eyes widened as he gazed at her, and he thought that if anyone caught him right now they would only confirm what everyone always said about him, that he was a perverted old fool. As much as he always hated hearing things like that, he ignored it because they weren't true. Sure he read Jiraiya's novels in public, but he could count in one hand how many women he had willingly been with, and things were so different with Sakura. There was never a time that he crossed the line with her, but here he was, wishing that she would one day notice his growing feelings for her and one day see him as more than a friend.

Kakashi then noticed that she took a hair pin from the dresser and held it in one hand as she closed her eyes and kissed it and then held it to her heart before she twisted her pink locks and placed it in her hair.

It was the first time that he had seen her do such a thing and he suddenly became curious as to who would have given her such an item. She would have never done that if she had bought it herself. Something inside him just told him that she was already taken and it hurt, it hurt like hell but… he could try… no... he could walk away or he could knock on her window.

Kakashi saw the smile on her face and even though a part of his heart broke, he concluded that it must be someone special to her.

He had been too late, taken too much time and now… there would never be a chance.

Kakashi was sure that it was someone who he did not know, because she never spoke to anyone about this new guy. There was a 98% chance that she would have told Ino by now and he would have somehow heard this through the rumor mill. He wondered when and where she would have met this person, since she had been in the village for the last two weeks and ANBU missions prior to that.

He suddenly started suspecting some of her closest friends because he didn't smell any different scents on her. Naruto was in a relationship with Hinata, Neji and Tenten were together, Shino was engaged, Shikamaru had some weird relationship with Temari of the Sand, and Choji held a torch for his own blond teammate.

Could it be Kiba? No, he was going to step up as clan heir, he couldn't pursue a partner now without approval of the clan. Sai? The two had gotten close but he had never sensed those kinds of emotions from either of them. Lee would have shouted it from the rooftops and Gai would have already mentioned the youthful accomplishment of his student in finally getting the girl.

Before he started suspecting any man from his own generation, she turned off the lights and walked out of her room.

He hid his chakra as she left her home and walked towards the center of the village.

The silver-haired ninja looked down at his hands, hung his head in defeat, and sighed as he let the single Camellia flower he had brought her fall to the ground as he jumped on the rooftops and trees towards the training grounds and away from her apartment. Whoever made her smile like that certainly had a strong hold on her heart. As much as he wanted to try, he would step back and let her be happy. She deserved to be happy, and he could never take that away from her.

* * *

In a safe house near Iwa, the blond explosives artist laid in bed, in excruciating pain.

Deidara looked at the ceiling of his bedroom and thought of all the possible ways that he would have gotten injured. He hadn't directly fought anyone in close combat since he fought Sasuke's clones and his last mission for the Akatsuki went off without a hitch. It was reconnaissance and therefore didn't have to fight anyone. He was able to use his kekkei genkai and hadn't seen any problems until two days ago.

Somehow the mouths in his hands started to close and refused to open up. He felt that he was being consumed from the inside out. Deidara knew that there was something wrong with him and he needed to get a message to Kisame and Itachi. They were the closest to him and he knew that out of all the Akatsuki, they would be the only ones to possibly come and help him.

He slowly got up from his bed and painfully made his way to a desk to write a note. In it he explained everything that had happened since his encounter with the younger Uchiha.

As much as he despised getting any help, or admitting that he actually needed it, he sealed up the scroll and walked to the back of his house where they kept messenger birds. He attached the scroll and let it fly towards the safehouse where Kisame and Itachi were based.

The elder Uchiha might know more about his little brother's skills than anyone else. No one else in their organization would be able to figure this out.

Crimson eyes kept watch on the house of the explosives artist. The dark-haired man chuckled and said, "It won't be long now. We'll see how well you can fight against me without your precious kekkei genkai."

* * *

"Man Itachi, I hadn't had a work out like that in years. I'm glad that you let me go in first, you usually end up having all the fun and finish them all off before we even begin."  
The usually stoic Uchiha responded with a, "Hn."

The tall blue man chuckled and said, "Well I guess we can go home, the information we got here was extremely valuable."

Kisame held onto several scrolls that their leader had wanted them to acquire from Waterfall. Itachi decided that he would look over the documents before he delivered them to Pein.

Itachi calmly said, "Yes, so it seems."

They silently made their way towards their home on the border of Fire. Itachi had reverted to his stoic, emotionless persona while around Kisame and had managed to avoid all the questions that were directed his way.

The last two weeks without Sakura put a different perspective on his life. It is as if life with her was a dream, a dream that he didn't want to wake up from.

Itachi had thought of his lover every day since they departed. He craved her touch, needed to feel her warmth, be lulled to sleep in the soft embrace of her arms.

As Itachi continued to make his way back to their safe house, Kisame kept looking at him and wondered what could have happened to him to change his hard exterior. He was absolutely sure that it was a woman, but had no evidence of it. Itachi was the most private person that he had ever met. That being said, very few people could read the subtle signs that the Uchiha Itachi, prodigy of the renowned Sharingan wielders of the Leaf would have someone on his mind.

They neared their home and as soon as they got there, they immediately set up their protection seals around the doors and windows.

Itachi grabbed the scrolls and quickly scanned them for any information that could be of use to the Leaf.

The evening progressed and both men had just sat down to eat a late dinner when a messenger hawk landed on its perch and activated the seal.

Kisame was about to get up to get it but Itachi stood up and said, "I will get it. Last time you scared the hawk and we missed a very important scroll from Konan-san."

Kisame laughed at the memory as he took a piece of fish and took a huge bite for emphasis.

Itachi turned around so Kisame couldn't see him roll his eyes in amusement.

He unrolled the scroll and as soon as he read it, Itachi re-read it just to make sure that the words hadn't changed. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he contemplated the possibilities and then sighed. Orochimaru had always been one to use devious means to get what he wanted. The fight with Sasuke was the only thing different and for a kekkei genkai to be disabled would have to mean that someone had medical knowledge. The fact that his foolish little brother had spent a significant amount of time with that treacherous snake, and was now in possession of said man's own summons caused a knot to tighten in his stomach.

This was bad. If Deidara was indeed without his kekkei genkai he would be vulnerable to attacks.

He thought about all the possible outcomes and deep down he felt that this was a trap. Itachi walked inside and took a seat next to Kisame and informed him of the situation. Kisame cracked his knuckles and said, "So do you think that those rumors of Deidara going crazy with his stupid explosives is all a set up to throw people off?"

Itachi raised and eyebrow and said in a detached voice, "Deidara might be a lot of things, but when it comes to his "art" there is no way that he would ever think of allowing any sub-par materials to be used. He is one of the few missing nins that enjoys using a signature element to all that he does. I think you might be right, Kisame-san. We need to investigate this before it reaches anyone else in the organization."

Kisame smiled and said, "I'm looking forward to another fight."

Itachi glared at the man but said nothing. He hoped that Konoha wouldn't send anyone to investigate. He stood up and said, "We leave in an hour since we have to stop and hand over these scrolls from Waterfall to Pein-san before they start asking why we took so long. I will wait for you outside."

Kisame grinned and went to go pack his things.

* * *

In Konoha, Tsunade had sent Kakashi and Naruto on a special mission to Iwagakure to investigate some reports on the Akatsuki member known as Deidara. That was three days ago.

She looked at the papers that she was just handed and took a swig of her saké. Something felt off about the reports, the explosions weren't like the usual explosions used by the famed explosions terrorist, and they were getting closer to the borders of Fire.

The Hokage of the Leaf was trying to find out who amongst the ranks would be suitable to go investigate the other situation regarding the Akatsuki.

Neji's recon team had sent a report from the field via messenger hawk that it looked like some of them were on the move and heading towards Iwa.

She didn't want Kakashi and Naruto to be ambushed.

She grabbed the bottle of saké and refilled her cup once more.

Tsunade didn't like the information in the reports that she was reviewing, but she had no other choice but to send Sakura to go and confirm the information and possibly assist Kakashi and Naruto. Her last recon mission was a success and she had a better understanding of the area since her last mission.

Tsunade hated sending out her pupil for a job like this but decided to send her anyway since she was most prepared and familiar with the surroundings.

She called in one of her messengers and instructed them to call in Sakura, Yamato and Sai immediately for a S-class ANBU mission.

When they showed up Tsunade explained the situation and Sakura immediately tensed when she heard that Akatsuki was involved. Her ANBU mask was already on and she was able to hide the worried look.

Tsunade spoke, "Yamato will be captain, on this mission. I expect you to track down the other Akatsuki members. We have reason to believe that they might be on their way to Iwa to join Deidara. Kakashi and Naruto are already there investigating some reports on discrepancies on the use of explosives. There is a possibility that there is a person that is impersonating Deidara and we don't want any Akatsuki members together in one spot. It might be a trap and I need for the three of you to support Kakashi and Naruto in any way possible. I don't have to stress the danger of encountering any Akatsuki members, be careful and stay safe. You leave in an 30 minutes. Get out of here, I need to speak with Yamato."

Sai and Sakura bowed to their leader and made their way out the door. Sakura turned around and as she was closing the door, she took a last look at her shishou and said a silent goodbye.

Tsunade watched her apprentice close the doors, and when it was just the two of them in the office, she looked at the ANBU captain and said, "Tenzou, I have a reason to believe that Uchiha Sasuke is behind some of this, I think he is luring his brother out. The reports say that the explosive material is not the same. Either Sasuke is behind this or some other copy cat wannabe trying to get some attention. I need for you to keep a close watch on the original members of Team 7, Kakashi included. I don't know how emotionally invested they still are in him or if their judgement will be clouded. That blond brat will undoubtedly become emotional and I don't know how Sakura will react. She has become more level-headed as the years have passed by and she says that she has gotten over her crush, but that damn kid broke her heart and crushed her self-esteem. I don't want her to freeze up if she has to be forced to end him."  
He bowed his head and said, "I understand Hokage-sama. I will do everything in my power to either capture or neutralize him."

Sakura dashed home as soon as she left the Hokage's office. She quickly packed for the trip but then walked along her walls and looked at all of her framed pictures. She allowed her emotions to come out and with some tears, some soft smiles, and remembering some great times she headed upstairs to collect the only things that mattered to her in her room.

Sakura took the scroll where she kept Itachi's cloak and picked up the only two pictures in her bedroom, the picture of her parents and her copy of Team 7 as a new genin squad. She grabbed the hair pin from her dresser and then sealed all the items in the scroll that she would keep inside her ANBU armor, close to her heart. Before long she ran towards the gates of Konoha after taking in and memorizing all the sights and smells of her beloved village.

Soon enough her Captain and one of her closest friends was standing next to her, ready to depart.

With a simple nod all three ANBU lept into the trees and made their way towards the border of Fire towards Iwa.

It would take them about two days time to get there, if they continued on without stopping for long periods of time.

* * *

There was a loud explosion that rocked the foundations of his home. Deidara opened his eyes and quickly lunged out of the way of a beam falling right on top of his bed. His body screamed at the pain that shot through his arms down to his hands.

He pulled himself up and before the next explosion detonated, he jumped out of the window only to be thrown a couple of yards away from the blast behind him.

There was dust, debris, and the acrid smell of an all-consuming fire.

He wanted to succumb to the darkness and welcome unconsciousness but he knew that he was in danger. His instincts screamed the word _'Run!'_ but his body couldn't move fast enough or follow any commands.

Amid the settling dust and crackling of the fire he heard a sinister laugh from behind him.

Deidara turned around and looked at the younger of the Uchiha's. His eyes grew wide as he stared the cold hard gaze of the Sharingan.

Sasuke smirked down at him as he slowly stroked a small snake wrapped around his arm and said, "Your useless without your bloodline limit. I'm glad the little present that this little one left has worked marvelously."

The blond realized that his suspicions were right, Sasuke had done something to him to stop his bloodline limits. He looked up to glare at the younger man.

Sasuke crouched down next to him and said, "Tell me… Is my brother coming?"

Deidara wasn't particularly loyal to Itachi but he hated this bastard so much that he would say just about anything to piss him off.

"You will never beat him… he's stronger than you… he has everything that you don't. You… are… still too weak… to face him."

Something inside Sasuke snapped and he grabbed Deidara by the collar and said, "Are you sure that you want to say such a thing?"

Deidara laughed in his face and said, "You are a brat… you know nothing of true pain."

Sasuke's chidori began to form in his free hand and Deidara's eyes widened by a fraction but he didn't tear his gaze from him.

Sasuke's hatred was reaching its peak, he felt the chakra signatures of his teammates and yelled at them, "Karin get them back to run the perimeter. I will deal with this one myself."  
The three members of Team Hebi went back into the trees and left them.

Deidara used this distraction to jump back from Sasuke's grasp.

He painfully settled into a fighting stance. The artist was a long-range fighter but without his abilities he would have to resort to taijutsu and try to avoid falling prey to the Sharingan. For once in his life he prayed that Kisame and Itachi would arrive.

Sasuke charged and they clashed in a blurred dance of arms and legs. Deidara wasn't able to cause much damage due to his weakened state but he wasn't a member of Akatsuki for nothing. He gave him a decent fight and managed to evade some of his genjutsus. Fighting Itachi had taught him how to counter some of them as well.

Sasuke suddenly felt Karin get close enough to yell, "Sasuke-kun, we have Konoha ANBU and your former teammates getting close. They will be here in a bit."  
He continued to fight Deidara but yelled, "Is _HE_ coming. I don't give a damn about anyone else!"

She used her abilities and then after several moments, she screamed out, "YES!"

There was a dark gleam flash through Sasuke's eyes and Deidara looked at the cold glare and he knew that there was no way that he would survive this fight.

* * *

_(a couple of hours before)_

"Will you hurry up Kisame-san, we have already lost too much time." Itachi knew that if any Konoha nins were sent out when they left the safe house they would be arriving around the same time that they would. Sakura must have already informed them of all the Akatsuki safe houses, It was only a matter of time and distance. It was noon already and they needed to leave to get closer to Iwa.

Thoughts of his beloved Sakura flooded his mind. They might not be able to go through with their original plan.

With each step towards Iwa he changed parts of their plan, he needed to make sure to stay alive and see her again. He needed to do what he needed with Sasuke and get away from him and Kisame as soon as he could. He would find her and they would reconsider their plans if needed.

They neared the borders and for some reason the pull of a familiar chakra was calling to him. It felt sinister, full of hate, and longing for revenge.

He looked on ahead, clearing his head and focusing about what was to come. In his mind he said, _'I am coming foolish little brother. I will help rid you of this curse.'_ His hands curled around the small piece of paper, with a special seal written in his own blood.

Itachi closed his eyes and spread his senses. He could feel many chakra signatures converging in one spot.

He looked at Kisame and said, "We must hurry he is surrounded and I feel that there are many people heading towards him."

Kisame gave him a toothy grin and said, "Finally a good party!"

Both increased their speed and attempted to close the distance between them.

* * *

Kakashi's ninken had heard the explosions as they ran a recon perimeter. They poofed back to their master and informed him of what they found. Naruto only had to look at Kakashi to convey that they were going. They ran towards the large pillars of smoke coming from the edge of the horizon. That amount of smoke could only mean a large explosion, where they would find their target.

They didn't expect to find their former teammate running his hand through Deidara's chest as the crackles of his chidori died down. Kisame and Itachi approached the clearing from the opposite direction at the same time the body of the blond explosives artist hit the ground.

Sasuke looked up and gazed at the shocked faces of his former sensei, Naruto, and Itachi's partner Kisame. The grin on his face grew wider as his curse mark flashed and his Sharingan locked with the crimson eyes of his older brother.

Sasuke didn't bother to clean the blood off of his hand as he stood up and said, "You die today brother."

Itachi closed his eyes, saying a silent prayer as he felt his brother's presence come up right next to him.

With inhuman speed, Itachi grabbed both of Sasuke's wrists and then disappeared with him in a flock of crows.

He missed the arrival of a pink haired ANBU who looked up at the sky. He couldn't have known about the tear that fell behind her mask and the whispered, "Be safe my love."

The one's left now faced Kisame and the arrival of Sasuke's new teammates.

* * *

A/N: sorry the story kinda jumps around from pov to pov but I needed to get across that a lot of things were happening simultaneously, so I will try to clear it up some:

Deidara writing a note to send to Itachi and Kisame happens on the same day, that they finish their mission and head home.

Naruto and Kakashi were sent on their mission a few days after Sakura went out with Ino and the girls (I didn't go into that because it wasn't relevant and wouldn't have moved the story along, let's just say it was a fun night and nothing happened.)

Sasuke had set up fake explosions weeks/days before Deidara started having pain. He was trying to bring heat on Deidara, so rumors could be started. Those are the explosions that Tsunade had sent Kakashi and Naruto to investigate. The intel that Neji had sent via messenger was when Itachi and Kisame were going towards Iwa but before Itachi and Kisame decide to make a detour to see Pein. Neji could listen in because, thanks to Sakura/Itachi's intel, they knew that the Akatsuki only placed the protection seals after they arrive at their safehouse. Leaf ANBU had time to bug the house and Neji could always read their lips with his Byakugan. Thanks to the intel that Sakura had given Tsunade, they now knew the locations of the safehouses and were just keeping a close eye without attacking.

Itachi and Kisame head out towards Iwa and Neji sends a message to Konoha at the same time. Tsunade immediately sends out Sakura, Yamato and Sai. They are only couple of hours behind Itachi and Kisame, while Kakashi and Naruto are already there. Since Itachi and Kisame have to make a pit stop to see their leader, Leaf ANBU has time to catch up on distance.

Please don't kill me about Kakashi, this will NOT be a love triangle fic. I just needed someone in Konoha to sort of know that there was someone in the picture without really divulging Itachi and Sakura's relationship status.

This was the hardest chapter to write, so many things going on and just trying to figure out how to make them go together. Forgive me if it is all over the place.

Next chapter might take a bit longer because it involves a major fight scene that I have already re-written twice. I will take my time with the next specific chapter because it is really important.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 12

* * *

They looked at each other, each one was on high alert. The Shinobi of the Leaf regrouped together, Team Hebi gathered around each other, and Kisame grinned at the impending fight before him.

Kakashi and Naruto immediately recognized the chakra signatures of Yamato, Sai and Sakura, and nodded in their direction when they joined them.

They were all ready to fight the group before them, and the tense atmosphere was almost palpable.

Naruto glared at Team Hebi and said to Kakashi, "We need to finish this quickly. We have to get to Sasuke before his bastard brother kills him."

Sakura inwardly flinched at the hatred and venom in Naruto's words towards Itachi. It hurt her that her best friend, and brother, did not know the truth about how Itachi was still, and would forever be loyal to Konoha.

The cold wind blew harshly around them, but no one made a move as they studied their opponents. The first one to move was the man with the black cloak and red clouds.

Kisame walked up to where Deidara's body laid and knelt to check on him. He looked down at the lifeless eyes and ran his hand over his face to close them. It was the least that he could do for not getting there on time to help. He was the closest thing that he had to a friend in the Akatsuki. Itachi was his partner, but never opened up to Kisame in any way, at least Deidara was able to joke with him when they were in the presence of the ever stoic Uchiha.

Kisame knew of Itachi's little brother, and he hoped that Deidara gave him a hell of a fight before he died. His thoughts darkened and he wanted to finish this so he could go and find Itachi and give the younger Uchiha a good beating to avenge his fallen comrade. His chakra flared as he looked up to glare at everyone.

Kisame began circling the group of ANBU and said in low voice, "Come on... I'm itching for a good fight. Who wants to die first?"

Sai quickly drew a creature in one of his scrolls and sent it towards Kisame as Team Hebi charged at the Leaf nins.

Yamato used Sai's distraction to jump over Kisame and quickly said, "Doton: Doryuso." Many spikes rose from the ground where Kisame was standing but the missing nin managed to create a water clone as he jumped in front of Sakura, baiting her to fight with him.

The water clone was dispelled by Yamato's spikes and the captain quickly had to dodge and ax fist from Sasuke's teammate who was named Jugo, who had jumped into the fight. The speed of Jugo's attacks was unrelenting and Yamato had to use his jutsu to create barriers or entrap the large orange haired man. Jugo's ax kept tearing down the barriers that Yamato set up and would simultaneously throw weapons in the captains direction. Yamato's attacks were taking a toll on his chakra levels but the captain knew that he needed to keep Jugo away from his teammates. Kakashi and Sakura had to deal with Kisame and then there were two others from the Uchiha's new team that they would have to finish off as well.

* * *

Kakashi saw that Kisame was taunting Sakura to make the first move and took a defensive position next to her. He noticed the clenching of her fists and the subtle way that she prepared her surprise attack stance, the one that he had taught her. She knew that he was next to her and expected him to initiate the attack, so she could follow-up with her own.

Their coordinated dance began.

The Copy Ninja flash stepped behind Kisame and with incredible speed left a clone to kick out his knee as he jumped backwards and held his hands out towards her. Sakura had trained with him non-stop back in Konoha and knew that he would need her to gather chakra to her foot as he back flipped and caught her by the arms and swung her towards Kisame. Her foot connected with his jaw and he flew back a couple of yards away dispelling the clone that Kakashi left to hold him down. He touched his jaw and then said, "Wow, sweetheart that is a mighty kick you have there. I'm sure that you probably need a real man to put you in your place." Kisame licked his lips and then winked at Sakura's direction.

Naruto became angered at Kisame's words towards his teammate and was totally blindsided when Suigetsu hit him with a powerful water jutsu.

Kisame looked back and smirked at the water jutsu user and said, "Hey kid we have unfinished business, so when we are done with the Leaf scum we can have our own little battle." Kisame touched Samehada and Suigetsu's eyes danced with anticipation.

At the possibility of fighting Kisame, Suigetsu attacked Naruto with the Executioner's Blade that Zabuza had once wielded. He took Naruto by surprise and was able to get two deep cuts in Naruto's thigh and forearm. Naruto, furious with the now semi-alliance between Suigetsu and Kisame, created three Shadow Clones. He sent one to search for Sasuke and Itachi and with the remaining two formed a Rasengan which he aimed straight at Suigetsu's chest.

The impact was loud but when the water clone exploded, Naruto's frustration grew exponentially. He lunged at him with a kunai in hand and his shadow clones threw several shuriken at their target. Suigetsu dodged almost all the projectiles but had two shuriken lodged on his upper arm where he blocked the ones that were aimed at his face. Naruto charged at Suigetsu again when he heard Sakura call out, "Watch out Naruto!" as Samehada sliced through his shadow clones, almost catching him in the process. Kisame grinned and called out, "Hey Suigetsu, you think we can do a combo water jutsu?"

Suigetsu grinned and stood near the tall blue ninja.

Kakashi's Sharingan saw the jutsu that they were going to do and quickly grabbed Sakura by her waist and hauled her up towards the tallest trees. As he carried her, Sakura took the opportunity to heal any injuries that Kakashi had. He set her down and squeezed her hand as he said, "Thank you Sakura. He will probably use many more water based jutsu's. You must try to stay out of the water; those two might be trouble together"

She nodded and then heard her name be called from across the field as Kakashi had to lunge out-of-the-way of a volley of kunai aimed at him.

Kisame grinned and yelled, "Done talking with your girlfriend, Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi responded with a water dragon of his own but it was countered by Kisame's shark summons. He knew that Kisame worked closely with Itachi and might know how to counter genjutsu, so he decided on a rapid taijutsu battle. Kakashi jumped towards him as Kisame readied himself. The attacks were fierce as Kisame's prior remark lit an urgent need to protect Sakura. He knew well enough that she could hold her own against anyone but it was like a primal instinct to protect the ones that he loved.

Naruto saw his sensei's battle from afar and created another shadow clone to work in tandem with Kakashi to fight the shark-like missing nin. As Suigetsu and Kisame summoned sharks and more water creatures, Kakashi countered with his own arsenal of water based jutsus.

* * *

Sai, had recovered from Kisame's sudden evasion of Yamato's jutsu and quickly drew some lion's to attack the sudden shuriken and kunai that Karin threw his way. As his creations blocked the attacks the sudden wall of water that Kisame had control of came his way and his ink creations were dispelled. Karin was able to throw a set of chakra chains that ensnared the artist as his head went underwater.

Yamato saw him go under but couldn't do anything as he was continuously trying to dodge chakra cannon blasts from Jugo. He spotted Sakura and yelled at her to help Sai. Sakura made eye contact with her captain and quickly assessed the situation.

She was jumping trees and dodging water bullets as she quickly dove into the water and swam to Sai just before he lost consciousness.

Sakura pushed chakra into her limbs to fight the current and reach her friend. She noticed the chakra chains and knew that she couldn't touch them, lest they both become void of chakra and drown.

She grabbed Sai by his foot as she kicked her way up towards the surface. Once there, she flung him out of the water and had him land, well crash, into a large tree branch. He might be drained of chakra but he was alive. She needed to get to him to begin healing him as soon as she could.

Naruto saw Sakura struggle to get out of the water and he leaped on a nearby rock to pull her out. She used Naruto as leverage and she catapulted herself to where Sai was. She looked back and Naruto was already providing her cover as she began to heal her fallen comrade.

She pushed the water out of his lungs and quickly helped fill his cells with much-needed oxygen. The chakra chains were continuing to drain his chakra and were starting to pull at hers. She used one ANBU technique to break out of Chakra chains by quickly making the necessary seals to contain her chakra to a fixed point deep within her arms and then use her own muscles with very little chakra to pull the chains apart. As soon as a single link weakened she let go of her chakra in a strong burst and broke the link altogether. Sai let a sigh of relief, but he was still in danger due to his weakened state. Sakura, pulled out of her pouch a small container with soldier pills. She opened it and gave one to Sai and waited until her regained some chakra. Once his chakra was halfway replenished she said, "Sai, I need for you to draw a bird and give us air support. Your creations will be no good surrounded by this much water."

Sai nodded once and then quickly drew a large bird that took him high in the air. From there, he could rain down ink creatures or shurikens and kunais. Naruto had been blocking most attacks but Sakura could see that his wounds were still bleeding. Kurama would help him heal but it didn't hurt to help out.

She somersaulted over an exploding tag and then landed next to Naruto with an already glowing green hand and touched the spots were Suigetsu had injured him.

She looked up at his bright blue eyes and then pushed him out-of-the-way as she heard a fuma shuriken flying in their direction.

Sai was fighting with his ninja art creatures against Karin who was an adept shinobi at concealing her chakra and attacking from the most unexpected of places. Naruto's clones came into the fight and began to fight the red-head. The clone below looked up at the ninja artist and yelled at him, "Go find the real me, we need to take down the water jutsu users." Sai flew to the north where most of the water attacks were coming from.

Sakura jumped towards Kisame and then covered Kakashi by deflecting some attacks. She looked him over and then quickly jumped behind him with glowing green hands to heal the large cut on his side. She whispered, "Yamato needs your help. Naruto is here to help me."

Kakashi nodded and then left to help the wood style jutsu user.

Sakura glanced at Naruto and said, "Take the purple-eye one and I will finish this one myself."

Naruto said, "Please be careful Sakura-chan."

He jumped away and began to lure Suigetsu away from the large blue man.

Kisame licked his lips and said, "Come back for more babe?"

She was glad that her ANBU mask covered the disgusted look on her face.

Sakura remembered what Itachi had said about his partner and avoided the large blade known as Samehada. She used some long-range and close range attacks to throw him off-balance. Her chakra scalpels were able to do some damage to the missing nin and cut tendons and crush some bones, but she knew that if she kept it up the blade would suck her dry of any chakra that she had.

The pink haired woman took out her katana and settled into her fighting stance. Kisame grinned and said, "Babe that puny sword will do nothing to me."

She replied, "We'll see about that."

Her stance was now identical to Itachi's and her movements were just as fast. She moved with grace and fluidity and Kisame was so startled by the similarities in her and Itachi's movements that he was surprised as the weapon pierced the back of his spine and paralyzed him from the waist down. Sakura jumped over the now fallen man and with chakra scalpels severed the tendons in his arms, rendering them useless as they fell to his sides. Kisame realized that this was the woman who Itachi had been with. There was no other who could have learned the Uchiha's specific techniques without being personally taught by the master sword wielder.

Naruto had taken Suigetsu and fought him once more. The purpled eye'd ninja said, "So your injuries are healed, do you think that you can come out unscathed from my blade?" Naruto growled and summoned one more of his clones and then attacked in a combo of close range attacks. The blond was wearing the water jutsu user down by the way that Suigetsu slowed his counterattacks and misplaced jutsu strikes. There was little that Suigetsu could do against the never-ending attacks that Naruto threw his way. In combination with Sai's aerial attacks, the Konoha ninjas were too much for the young shinobi.

Naruto had enough of this and said, "I need to get to Sasuke and you guys are just wasting my time."

Yamato and Jugo were actively fighting hand to hand when Kakashi appeared and jumped into his comrades side.

Jugo was enraged and was blasting his way in their direction.

Kakashi jumped to the left as Yamato jumped right and they executed a perfect ANBU technique in holding dangerous nins. Yamato's wood style jutsu held Jugo as Kakashi used his Mangekyo Sharingan to place a strong genjutsu over him. Once subdued, they pulled out a set of chakra chains from a scroll and placed them on the large man.

* * *

The two brothers appeared in a nearby clearing. As soon as they materialized back again, Sasuke jumped back and unsheathed his katana as he settled into a fighting stance.

Itachi had a calm demeanor and stood in front of his brother who seethed in hatred and a need for revenge.

He asked his younger brother, "How much can you actually see, little brother?"

Sasuke looked up at his once idol and said, "What I am seeing right now is that…" He paused and pointed his katana at his brother, "... you will be dead at my feet, Itachi."

Itachi inwardly sighed, he knew that all the years of planning had led to this, but now with everything changing, he needed to steer his brother in a different direction.

Sasuke's hate was too strong; he needed time to help him see what he saw, feel what he felt, and change his heart.

Itachi stepped closer and said, "Hmmm….I see… Let's get to it."

Their deadly dance began and Itachi cleared his head and allowed his senses to spread out. He had his eyes closed but he could feel every movement around him.

This angered Sasuke to no end. He believed that Itachi was doing this in an attempt to show off, but Itachi was not only opening his senses, he was opening his heart to his brother.

The carefully laid plans from before didn't matter, all that mattered was making his brother understand. He didn't expect forgiveness, he only wished that his brother saw the truth to his words and understood the real reason behind the mission. He needed to trust that there was a shred of humanity left in his younger brother and that after this, Sasuke would continue to be loyal to that Leaf.

Sasuke's katana was thrusted into Itachi's chest and as Itachi opened his eyes and stared into the cold gaze of his younger brother's Sharingan he saw the flare of the curse mark on Sasuke's neck. A slight smirk was appearing on the edges of Sasuke's lips as he reveled in the sight of Itachi's pierced chest, but then when Itachi's crows dispelled around the katana, Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration.

Itachi appeared behind him and in a flash and whispered, "You know nothing, but I will set you free little brother."

"Set me free?! You have condemned me into a life of hate and…. and loneliness… I am who I am because of you! I hate you!"

The curse seal on Sasuke's neck flared and began to cover his entire body.

Itachi noticed that his brother relied a lot on his curse mark.

He had to taunt him to get the response that he needed and dodged with ease every attack sent his way. Sasuke tried and tried to get a good hit on him and could only scratch him with his kunai or merely singe his cloak with any fire jutsu that he sent his way.

Sasuke's katana clashed with Itachi's kunai and the sheer force of Itachi's counter blow flung Sasuke into a nearby tree, cutting it in half.

Itachi was there in the blink of an eye and kicked him and held his arm above his head with one arm. Sakura's healing had cured him of his disease and now that he was without his illness, he had to hold back in his attacks and Sasuke knew this. The seal flared and he fully took it to the next stage. The fire jutsus that Sasuke was throwing his way began to strengthen in power and intensity. Itachi jumped back and then after concentrating he opened up his eye and whispered, "Amaterasu…"

Black flames engulfed the fireball that Sasuke was blowing his way and quelled the inferno.

Sasuke jumped back as his older brother aimed his sight at the now claw-like arm protruding from his back. Running was his only option and Sasuke ran after seeing the destruction that Amaterasu left in its wake.

Taking in Orochimaru had some benefits as it allowed him to gain more power but it was always at a cost.

Itachi closed his eyes and felt the tell-tale signs of blood leaking from his right eye. He took a chance to jump onto the trees for some cover.

Both brothers knew that they needed to finish this quick as they were running out of chakra.

Sasuke used the Firestyle: Art of Dragon Flame jutsu and aimed it at Itachi who stood on a tree branch. Itachi jumped out-of-the-way and the fire dragon flew into the already darkening sky and was swallowed by a loud thunderclap.

Sasuke smirked at his brother and said, "Do you think that it would be this easy?" as he lunged in Itachi's direction and cut him with his katana in the back.

Itachi smiled regardless of the painful gash on his back and said, "You have gotten stronger, Sasuke."

The elder brother flashed behind his younger brother in an instant and then placed the seal that was written in his own blood atop the Orochimaru's curse seal. Sasuke turned around and then raised his hand as he charged his chidori and attempted to hit Itachi with the now increased electrical energy around them. Itachi jumped out of the way just before he was hit with the biggest lightning strike he had ever seen.

As the debris from the strike settled down, Sasuke was amazed to see a skeleton made out of chakra cover his brother and protect him from the attack. Itachi looked at his younger brother and said, "Sasuke once you have mastered both Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu you will be able to awaken Susanoo." Sasuke believed that he was taunting him once more, but Itachi was trying to teach him what he could master. The young Uchiha easily let the Snake take over and release his power at the daunting task that Itachi had now set before him.

Itachi's Susanoo had taken form and Sasuke fell to his knees in pain as Orochimaru's eight headed serpent took over his body and the blood seal began to weaken the activated curse mark. Susanoo cut seven heads at once with the Totsuka blade.

Itachi looked at Sasuke and said, "It's almost time…. It will finally emerge."

Orochimaru slowly emerged from the head of the last snake pointing his own kusanagi blade at the elder Uchiha. Before Orochimaru had a chance to spit any of his venom filled words and take over Sasuke's body, Susanoo thrust the Totsuka blade into the Sannin and killed him, just as the snake Sannin realized the type of blade that Itachi possesed.

Itachi had finally released his brother of the curse seal and Orochimaru was sealed within Susanoo until the end of time.

Sasuke felt the curse lift from his body and as Itachi approached Sasuke he whispered almost to himself, "You are almost free little brother."

Itachi appeared before him, Mangekyo Sharingan ablaze, yet with a gentle expression that Sasuke hadn't seen in years, he said, "Let me in Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't recover quickly enough for him to close his eyes in time and was quickly entranced in Itachi's Tsukuyomi.

He expect nothing less of torture from the person who killed his entire family and was prepared to fight him to the end, but what he saw made him stop trying to release himself from the genjutsu.

He was home, Sasuke was in the confines of his old home in the Uchiha district in Konoha. There was a sense of serenity as he walked in the hallways of his own home. He swore he could smell his mom's cooking in the kitchen and the birds chirping outside as a cool breeze twirled some of the leaves in their own private training ground.

Why would Itachi torture him like this, to bring him here… the one place that he longed for but couldn't ever go back to. Sasuke knew that the souls of his fallen clansmen were restless and demanded revenge. He yelled, "ITACHI!"

He was suddenly thrust into a different space, this time it was the shores of the lake near their house where Sasuke first learned the signature Uchiha katon jutsu. Itachi stood at the shore and looked back at Sasuke as he said, "I am sorry brother... for everything, I cannot atone for my sins and will always be deserving of your hatred, but I can no longer see the person who has been more important than anything else destroy himself."  
Itachi was instantly in front of his younger brother and gently tapped his forehead like he used to when they were children.

Immediately a series of visions flooded Sasuke's mind and he saw everything that Itachi did, thought, and felt since the day that the nine tailed fox attacked Konoha. Sasuke saw a vision of himself as a baby being held by his older brother as he promised to protect him at all costs.

Series of visions of both of them playing and growing up flashed and he could feel the love that Itachi held for his little brother. Never did he feel that Itachi saw him as an annoyance or a bother.

The times that they were able to train, he felt the immense pride in his older brother's heart whenever Sasuke mastered a new skill.

As Itachi's responsibilities as clan heir grew, the pain of seeing the clan that he was to one day lead, turn their back on the village that he loved. The actions of the clan would have endangered the entire village and it was becoming evident to the leaders of Konoha that something had to be done.

Itachi was then given the mission to spy on his own clan. He felt the turmoil in his brother's heart at the order from his own father and the disgust that followed after he found out of the coup d'etat.

Then Sasuke saw the final missions scroll that Itachi was given.

The scroll that seal the fate of the Uchiha clan laid in Itachi's grip as he bowed before the council and Lord Third.

The night of the massacre, Sasuke felt the pain that Itachi had to sear into his heart with each slice of his katana. The dying words of his own parents right before they died confirmed that they knew that they were in the wrong and would have been accused as traitors, and expected Itachi to bear the hate and responsibility for Sasuke. He saw how Itachi's hand trembled as he held the blade and the tears that escaped his older brother's eyes as he took on the sins of his clan to leave an honorable memory of the Uchiha name for Sasuke to rebuild. Itachi showed him everything, Lord Third's command, his promise to protect Sasuke as he grew up, and the pain of having to watch his younger brother grow up from afar. Sasuke saw that Itachi was there in the shadows of every significant event in his life and could not deny that the feelings that Itachi was flooding his senses with were genuine.

Sasuke didn't want to accept any of this and kept trying to tell himself that this was all an illusion, a sick joke to stir his hatred some more. He felt sick and a strange emotion welled up in his heart as Itachi released him from Tsukuyomi.

Both brother's stood in front of each other and Sasuke tried to hold back the emotions that were now surfacing. Something stung Sasuke's eyes and a wetness trickled down his cheeks as a small smile grazed Itachi's face.

Itachi said, "I need for you to be prepared, little brother… Something is coming and you need to be prepared, be weary of Madara… or an orange masked man for that matter, trust your team, they might not be blood related but they are the ones who still believe in you and have never given up. I need to leave you these final gifts, just know that I will always be with you brother. You are free of your curse." Itachi mentally added,_ 'And I will always love you.'_

He raised his hand and for the last time, tapped his younger brother on the forehead, a smile gracing his lips as he felt the approaching chakra signatures.

His Sakura was coming, they would finally be together again.

The large wound on Itachi's back was bleeding profusely and Sasuke finally took a good look at the damage that he cause on his older brother.

Each step took him closer to his beloved and closer to his new life.

His steps were staggering and his chakra was running low but he didn't care, he needed to get to her, to his Sakura, his one and only.

* * *

Karin looked up at her team with a smile and said, "Sasuke-kun is ok…. His brother is dying… I can barely feel his chakra anymore."

Kisame noticed how the pink haired woman froze mid-strike and said, "NO! Kami please don't let him die.."

The blue shark-like man grabbed her wrist and said, "It was you?! You are the one that Itachi has been leaving Akatsuki for?"

Sakura pulled up her mask and gazed at the now beaten shinobi and nodded once.

Kisame gave her a toothy grin and said, "You are worthy of him… Itachi always strives for perfection and babe you are pretty perfect in every way."  
He chuckled as he looked down at his blood covered body. He didn't have much time, blood was flowing freely from him and it took all he had to stay conscious.

Kisame said, "Please take care of him…. he was never…. I mean I had my suspicions but I always… thought that he was still loyal to his village."

She smiled down at him and said, "I can end it quickly and painlessly, if you so wish."

He nodded once and then closed his eyes as Sakura sent a burst of chakra to his temples that travelled through his nervous system and shut down his entire vital organs at the same time.

Sakura then got up and saw Naruto's clones finish off Karin by knocking her unconscious, Yamato and Kakashi managed to get some chakra chains on Jugo and Sai and two of Naruto subdued Suigetsu.

She started running in the direction of the black flames and Kakashi and Yamato followed her. Naruto left as soon as he finished his own battle with Suigetsu and Karin.

Sai stayed behind to watch over their new prisoners.

As they approached the clearing with burning black flames, Kakashi stood in awe and said, "Amaterasu…. It will burn until it has consumed everything that it touched. Yamato we need to do this together, on my mark!"

Yamato and Kakashi managed to make an opening within the Amaterasu flames with Yamato's wood style jutsu and Kakashi's Kamui. In an instant Team 7 was within the encircled area of black flames.

As darkness enveloped Itachi, he saw a flash of pink come his way in a speed that could rival his own.

Sakura's hands were instantly glowing green and were healing what she could. Her face was worried and she couldn't help the silent tears that fell from her eyes. She didn't care that Sasuke stood a few feet behind her. She didn't hear his questions, nor did she care to answer to him. He had hurt her too much and had done this to her lover.

His heart had stopped when she first got to him but she quickly sent small bursts of chakra at a steady level to maintain the normal rhythm as she began to heal the internal wounds. Sakura's chakra was running through his system like wildfire, healing everything that it touched, re-routing blood to where it was needed, stimulating cells to regenerate or grow, and knitting tissue together to stop the bleeding. There was only him and her at the moment nothing else mattered other than healing Itachi and getting out of there with him and starting a new life.

Sasuke stared at the pink haired woman who had once been his teammate. He hardly recognized her, she was determined and focused as she healed the body of his brother and there was a sense of unspoken power and grace in all of her movements. The ANBU armor spoke of the skills that she now possessed and the captain's cloak spoke of her rank within the organization. The only thing that remained the same was her pink hair and the intense emerald eyes that once looked at him the way that she looked at his brother now.

Could it be that something happened between them? To his knowledge, medics… especially ANBU medics, did not go out of their way to help missing nins. She moved towards Itachi with a sole purpose and Sasuke suspected that there was something more to what he was seeing.

Kakashi was frozen at the sight before him.

Sakura and Itachi…. He couldn't process the information and couldn't tear his eyes off of the pink haired medic tending to Itachi. The silver-haired man looked on as she continued to tend to the wounds of his former ANBU teammate. She had healed Kakashi many times, but never with the intense look or gentle caresses that she was giving the elder Uchiha.

Naruto took a step forward only to be stopped by Sasuke's hand.

He whispered to the blond, "Don't… she is healing him."

Naruto looked up and saw the worried expression on Sasuke's face. He had only seen this expression once before and that was when they fought Haku all those years ago.

Sasuke still didn't remove his hand from Naruto's chest and watched as Sakura continued to heal his brother.

She worked relentlessly but then looked up and said, "Someone is coming..."

Naruto snapped out of it first and then looked up to see a man with an orange mask appeared and stroll towards Sasuke's direction. He looked down at Itachi and Sakura and then said, "So he couldn't kill you now either…."

Naruto growled at him and said, "Who are you and what the heck are you talking about?"

Sasuke stepped up and said, "You…. Itachi said-"

He was cut off by the masked man's laugh as he finished, "Yes…. Your brother might have told you about me, but he probably didn't tell you everything."

Sakura had masked Itachi's heartbeat and chakra signature as she healed him; there was something that seemed off about this masked man and she had a gut feeling that he would not hesitate to go after Itachi in his weakened state.

The masked nin looked down in their direction and said, "Young Uchiha, your brother is dead. There is no chakra emitting from him. What could a pink haired woman do to change that?"

Sakura held back the urge to say anything as Itachi's eyes suddenly flew open and gazed intently at her. She could see him formulating a plan and she continued to mask his chakra and heartbeat.

Sasuke thinking that his brother died clenched his fist and then growled, "You stay away from my brother…"  
"Oh… are you on good terms with him now? Have you forgiven him for what he did to you… or should I say _FOR_ you? You see how he even removed the curse seal that the Snake put on you?"  
Kakashi flashed stepped next to Sakura and Yamato did the same but stood closer to Naruto.

The Copy Ninja's eyes looked down and saw the crimson of the Sharingan and immediately knew that Sakura was masking Itachi's chakra for a reason. Kakashi could sense something familiar but then again completely different from the orange masked ninja but couldn't really figure it out as of now.

Sasuke stiffened at the mention of Itachi's deeds, but the Akatsuki member continued to taunt him, "Oh don't tell me that your friends here don't know of Itachi's heroic and selfless actions all of those years ago?"  
Naruto yelled, "You're wrong. Itachi killed his family and made teme here go crazy with blood lust and revenge. He was no hero!"

Sakura and Sasuke both flinched at his words and then Kakashi began fitting the pieces together. The surprised look on his face couldn't be hidden by his usual mask.

The faceless nin laughed and said, "I guess not everyone is as smart as you Kakashi-san."

He looked at Naruto and said, "Kid let me tell you the real story of Uchiha Itachi… He was, and has always been loyal to Konoha… He was ordered by your precious Hokage to murder his clan in attempts to calm the rebellion that was brewing within the Uchiha clan. He fulfilled his mission and managed to save face for the Uchiha clan before it was found out that they were all traitors. He took the blame for the massacre, was labeled a missing nin, threatened the council to expose the truth if they refused to protect Sasuke, and offered your friend here to become the hero by molding the avenger that stands before you now. You see kid, Itachi wanted Sasuke to take his life so that Sasuke would be seen as the lone survivor who avenged such a horrendous crime, and would have a blank slate on rebuilding the clan once more. Sasuke wouldn't have been tied down to clan traditions or having to deal with the clan elders. He would be completely free to become Head of the Uchiha clan and build something that wouldn't be affected by our curse. He didk this to save his brother… the only person that he loved more than his own village."

Kakashi got the confirmation by looking down and seeing Itachi close his eyes and slightly look away. Sakura's body hid Itachi's face from everyone else.

Was this the connection between Sakura and Itachi? Did she know of this from the beginning and that is why she approached him in a familiar fashion? Was he the unknown lover?

The masked shinobi continued to explain the history of the Uchiha and Senju and the reason the Uchiha were targeted and then eventually grew to resent the council and Hokage.

During the speech, Sasuke remembered many childhood memories between himself and his older brother. Itachi only cared for him and only wanted him to get better and surpass him. He never wanted the pressures that he had to bear and endure what he had to witness and do for the sake of the village.

Sasuke knew that what his brother did was out of love and he couldn't taint the name that Itachi fought so hard to keep as an honored clan of Konoha anymore. He vowed to rid the village of the likes of the council members that authorized the slaughter, but not after exposing the truth and clearing his brother's name and legacy.

Freeing him of the curse, was Itachi's goal. He wanted to rid his younger brother from the curse seal that Orochimaru placed on him, but also from the Uchiha curse of hatred as well. If any of Itachi's pacifistic nature resided in Sasuke, it was beginning to grow with the presence of his former teammates.

Itachi was right, they had always been here for him and would refuse to leave him behind as well. This was the only family that he had left and he would protect it from everyone and everything.

Naruto could feel the change in his old teammate and whispered, "Teme…. I'm sorry…. I didn't know."

The once avenger, looked down towards the body of his brother and noticed that Sakura was still healing him, she wasn't giving up on Itachi and he wouldn't let it end this way either. Sasuke would fight and take heed to the his brother's warning.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at one another and with a bond that only true friends shared, agreed on a temporary truce until they could clear all of this up.

Kakashi didn't have time to process all the information between Sakura, Itachi, the new revelations by this masked nin and the apparent change in his former students demeanor due to the fact that Naruto and Sasuke both lunged at the masked missing nin with Rasengan and Chidori at full charge.

The masked man stood still as both Naruto and Sasuke's attacks passed right through his body.

They worked as if they had trained together all this time and could anticipate each other's moves. Most of the hits didn't hit this masked nin and they were only exhausting most of their chakra.

Whoever this opponent was, had incredible power.

Sasuke noticed the instant that the masked man activated a Sharingan and his eyes automatically shifted into Itachi's unique shape and the black flames of Amaterasu burned the Akatsuki cloak.

The cloak was immediately thrown off and Madara said, "So Itachi did transplant his ocular powers to you… Such a sweet gesture, still trying to protect you from beyond the grave. He truly planned out everything to protect you."

Sakura knew that Itachi was needed to fight someone who could completely avoid the most powerful attacks by both men. She opened Itachi's mouth and popped in a soldier pill. Kakashi noticed this and knew that they might be able to take him on if Itachi was on their side.

The orange masked man laughed and said, "Now look at you two…. working as a team. It is what Itachi would have wanted."

Itachi suddenly appeared behind the nin and said, "You're right, but I want to end you even more, Uchiha Madara."

He ran a blade through Madara before he could send it in another dimension and Sakura began to form the seals of the self destruct jutsu as she lunged in their direction. Itachi created several clones and formed a circle around the three of them.

Kakashi noticed what they were about to do and he lunged in their direction only to be stopped by Yamato's wood style jutsu.

The silver-haired ninja screamed at the top of his lungs, "Sakura!" as the clones around Itachi exploded and he caught a glimpse of Sakura being caught in an embrace by Itachi as Madara slumped to one knee with a blade through his chest.

The last thing he saw before being thrown back by the explosions was the kiss that Itachi and Sakura shared as the blinding light engulfed them both.

* * *

A/N: So sorry that this chapter took this long to put up. Life issues and two nights of back to back migraines delayed me finishing and editing this chapter. Fight scenes are really hard for me to write and I had lot's of trouble trying to make this work out the way that I wanted. I know that I altered the whole Obito/Madara bit with Sasuke, but if Itachi told him the truth first, Obito/Madara wouldn't have an influence on him.

Did Obito/Madara die by Itachi's attack? I can't say because I don't know where to go with that so I will just leave it to the reader to decide.

This is NOT the last chapter, so please don't hate me for the last bit. There is still some more story left. I am already working on the next chapter so it won't take as long for me to update.

Love you all.

Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 13

* * *

Nothing was left.

They stood there shocked at what had just happened but nothing could take away the pain that they all felt.

Sakura and Itachi were gone and the mysterious masked shinobi was nowhere to be found.

Sasuke was the first to run towards the epicenter of the blast. He didn't care about the smoke, or the still burning pieces of debris, there was a piece of Itachi's cloak that lay burning on the ground covered in part by Sakura's broken cat-like mask.

He fell to his knees and openly wept for the loss of his brother and the woman who had once been his teammate.

Sasuke had only seen her for an instant but he knew, without a doubt, that the woman who sacrificed herself for her village and for her friends, was not the same Sakura that he once knew; she had grown into something more.

She must have somehow held a special place in his brother's heart and it surprised him that no one else in his former team knew about it.

Deep down he hoped that Itachi had found an ounce of the kindness, love, and devotion that she once held for him. He deserved so much more than this… Itachi gave everything for him and for his village… He deserved to be happy.

He remembered the look in Sakura's face as she tended to his brother. The way that she ignored his questions and was completely focused on healing Itachi was something that he had never seen in the pinkette. His Sharingan memorized the expression on Itachi's face as Sakura fell into his arms…. it was love, acceptance, and peace.

Had they both planned out the end?

Sasuke's eyes cried tears that he didn't know that he possessed as he replayed the last look on his brother's face as he kissed his former teammate right before the explosions hit. There was no doubt in his mind that Sakura and Itachi had a type of romantic relationship but he was now left with so many questions unanswered.

* * *

Naruto shook with the sudden overwhelming emotion of the loss of his sister.

His movements were stiff as he approached the now kneeling form of his former teammate.

Naruto grabbed the burnt dirt and whispered, "Sakura-chan…. we… finally get teme here and… and…."

He couldn't finish his sentence but Sasuke responded by placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder. It was the only thing that he could do, but it spoke volumes to him.

He finally had his best friend and rival back but at what cost…

How could he go back to Konoha and tell Tsunade-sama that Sakura was…. gone.

How could he ever look at the council the same way after what he was just told about Itachi, and how could he ever become Hokage if he couldn't even protect his own teammate.

Kurama, for once, stayed silent. The nine-tails had grown to care for the young medic as she would always heal Naruto and put him in his place whenever he was out of line. He liked her a lot and now that she was gone he gave Naruto his space to mourn.

* * *

Kakashi silently stood a few yards away from the epicenter, across from Sasuke and Naruto. His silent tears wet the fabric of his mask and there was a tightness in his chest that threatened to consume him whole. He couldn't breath right, he felt his heart beat in an irregular pattern and the shock of the sudden loss of the woman who had come to care for, and possibly love, was too much for him. That, coupled with the realization that his once ANBU teammate was not a traitor but a continued ally to the Leaf, made him question if this was all a nightmare and not reality.

He couldn't believe she was gone and was overcome with and intense rage that encompassed his entire being. He wasn't sure about what to do next and had the hardest time trying to reign in the myriad of emotions that swirled like a thunderstorm inside of him.

Yamato sensed the aura of his senpai and quickly appeared next to him and placed an arm around his shoulders.

Kakashi flinched at the sudden contact but quickly recognized who it was and somehow managed to say, "I will be back before you leave to Konoha, take the lead for now." With a simple nod from Yamato, Kakashi sprinted towards the forest. Several loud blasts were heard as lightning strikes illuminated the forest around the area that Kakashi ran towards. The Copy Ninja would grieve her loss and he needed to be alone for now.

His pack felt the sheer grief of their master and summoned themselves to his side, but stayed in silent vigil as he tore through tree after tree with his chidori.

* * *

Back in the group, Naruto and Sasuke stayed silent for over an hour and a half, and were only moved after Yamato came up to them, with red blood-shot eyes of his own, to tell them that they had to move out.

Naruto looked at Sasuke and with a tear-streaked face said, "Sasuke… Please come home."

Sasuke nodded once and stood next to the blond as both men walked in silence away from the final resting place of two powerful and loyal shinobi's of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Sasuke had the piece of cloth and broken mask in his grip as they approached Yamato who was informing Sai of what had happened.

The young artist stiffened at the information and then allowed a single tear to fall from his eyes. Naruto noticed and almost burst into tears once more but was stopped as they felt Kakashi's chakra signature approaching. They all looked up and saw the once commanding presence of their team leader be morphed into something dark and hollow. Kakashi was broken….

No one had ever seen the always aloof man, be emotionally devastated in such a way. Yamato worried that they might completely lose him due to the grief and vowed to keep a closer eye on his senpai.

Out of all the people present, Yamato was the only one who knew of most of the scars left in Kakashi's heart, and unfortunately this one might be the one to tear it wide open.

As the silvered haired man approached, his ninken surrounded him and kept as quiet as possible. They could even feel the instability in the atmosphere. Pakkun and the pack would have to guard him to make sure he didn't lose it. The pug inwardly sighed and thought that this might be worse than when Kakashi had lost Rin.

Naruto looked up but couldn't get any words out, he simply went up to his former sensei and hugged him. Kakashi let him but didn't return the embrace, he was too detached from everything to feel anything anymore. His knuckles bled, there were chakra burns all over his hands and his mask was barely held together by a couple thin strands of cloth.

After a few minutes he said with a raw voice, "Let's go."

Sasuke looked at his teammates and they stood up silently. He then walked up to Kakashi and held out his wrists as he looked away. Kakashi caught the bloodshot eyes and tear-tracks on his cheeks and silently accepted Sasuke's surrender. Naruto was about to say something but Sasuke shook his head and said, "It has to be this way… dobe."

There was a spark of hope in Naruto's heart that said that Sasuke might one day be the best friend that he always needed. Kakashi pulled out a set of chakra rope and bound Sasuke's wrists. He looked down at the Uchiha and only said, "I'm sorry about Itachi."

Sasuke looked up at his former sensei and said, "No… it was I.. who pushed everyone away."

His eyes shifted to the sky and he gently closed them as it started to rain.

It rained the whole way back. It was as if the heavens mourned the loss of both Itachi and Sakura. The tears that the rain hid with each step back to Konoha put them a step further away from their loved ones; from her, the powerful kunoichi who rose out of the weak girl who only sought the power to heal and protect her teammates; from the selfless shinobi who gave his life for his village till the very end.

The gates of Konoha appeared and it was as if someone had stabbed each of them in the chest. They had returned without her, the glue that had held Team 7 together for all of those years. They entered the gates with new knowledge about a very dark secret in Konoha's past. They finally had brought back Uchiha Sasuke, and Naruto whispered to the heavens, "We did it Sakura-chan we brought back this baka home."

With heavy hearts they made their way up the Hokage tower. Shinobis made a path for the battered group of nins. The look on their faces said it all, and the obviously absent pink-haired medic spoke of the pain that they were dealing with. There were many gasps at the sight of Sasuke, cries and sobs at the realization that Sakura would never return, and the shock of seeing the broken man who led his team up the steps towards their Hokage.

Kakashi wished that Tsunade lost it and took his anger out on him, he was a dead man anyway… might as well make it official and let the Hokage vent her anger out on him. He had lost her, the woman that he swore to protect, the one that he would have given his heart to and his life without question or hesitation. The silver-haired ninja opened the doors to the Hokage's office and walked in with the rest of his team.

Sasuke's teammates were kept outside the doors, but he refused to go anywhere except to meet his fate and accept his punishment as soon as possible. He wanted to also be there when they told the Hokage about Itachi and the revelations about the orange masked man.

Tsunade saw the group come in and then when she saw them close the door, her eyes widened at the realization that Sakura was missing. She looked at Kakashi; his eyes were empty and were looking straight through her. She looked at Naruto who was about to burst into tears as he lowered his face. Tsunade faced the now present Uchiha and his eyes were cold and hard but the way that his shoulders slumped and the defeated look on his face said that something big happend. Yamato was the one that spoke up, "Tsunade-sama… during the process of our mission-"

Tsunade didn't have time for a full report, she slammed her fists on her desk and yelled, "Where is Sakura!" Yamato lowered his eyes and said, "She is gone Tsunade-sama. We encountered someone named Madara and she and Uchiha Itachi sacrificed themselves in order to defeat him. She used the ANBU self-destruct technique and Uchiha Itachi used exploding clones to defeat Madara."

Tsunade's voice wavered as she said, "And… and you witnessed this?"  
They all nodded and then Sasuke reached into his shirt and pulled out the scrap of cloth and broken mask and set it on her desk. She reached for the broken piece of her apprentices mask and she shook with grief at the thought of losing someone she considered a daughter. She turned around to look out the window as she whispered to the men in the room, "Get out… I need a full report in an hour. Take the Uchiha with you and don't let him out of your sight. I will see you when you return."

They all silently turned around but Sasuke stepped forward and stared at the blond woman. She sensed his intense gaze and when she turned around she saw a softer look in those onyx eyes.

He said, "My brother…. he was always loyal to Konoha… Did you know that he was ordered to kill my clan?"

Her eyes widened at his words and she shook her head and said, "I will make sure I look into this…" The tears were threatening to fall and she said, "Please… leave me for now. I will see you in an hour and we will talk about this."

He bowed before her and walked out the door to where Naruto was waiting for him.

As they closed the door, Tsunade opened the window and took to the rooftops at top speed. She went outside the borders of Konoha and once she crossed the Hokage mountain, she let loose her grief and broke down in tears. The pain was intense and she felt that a piece of her heart had been destroyed.

The pain was intense and she felt like someone was choking her from the inside. Her heartache too great to keep in she tore through a forest and then she jumped up to the sky and as she came down she slammed her fist into the ground creating a mile wide crater below her.

She was trying to make sense of what Team 7 said about Itachi and Madara. Too many things didn't make sense and she realized that there was some information that she wasn't aware of from her predecessor.

Tsunade raced towards the Konoha Archives to collect some information before Team 7 returned to her office. She needed to clear some things up before they could address Sakura's friends about what happened.

* * *

Naruto walked alongside Sasuke and said, "Is there somewhere where you want to go?"

Sasuke looked at all the people who were staring at the duo and said, "I just want to get out of here."

Naruto nodded and then they jumped on the rooftops and headed for his home. When they got there they noticed a piece of paper stuck on his door. He took it and recognized Yamato's handwriting. It said that they were not to talk about what happened to anyone until Tsunade-sama saw them once more.

Sasuke glanced at the paper and waited for Naruto to open the door. Once inside the apartment, the pair looked at each other but were at a loss for words. After a few seconds, Naruto said, "The bathroom is to your right, there might be some cup ramen in the pantry… I have a… report to write."

Sasuke responded with a "Hn" and then made his way to a stool by the bar and sat there waiting for Naruto to finish his report.

The Uchiha looked around the sparsely furnished room and noticed that Naruto hadn't really changed in his habits since they were genin. He still only had ramen in his house to eat, the room was neat but there were scrolls sprawled out on the nearby desk. His only pictures in the room were his Team 7 genin picture, a picture of Sakura and Kakashi at Ichiraku's ramen stand, one with the Hokage and the Toad Sannin Jiraiya, and a few with him and the Hyuga heiress.

Apparently he was in a relationship with the shy quiet woman.

Sasuke sat in silence as he heard Naruto's handwriting scratch the scroll before him. There were times that he heard him stop wipe his face, sigh, and then continue writing. The blond finished his report and without a word pulled out the stool next to Sasuke and laid his head on the counter.

Sasuke looked down at him and he saw the sheer exhaustion in the usual energetic ninja. Itachi had seen what Sasuke had refused to see, his teammates had never given up on him and they had put their lives on the line plenty of times to get him back. Naruto wasn't judging him, he was accepting him as he was. No one else had done that for him, it was always what they could get out of him, or his skills. Naruto only wanted a friend, a teammate, a rival to grow and learn from.

He had heard Naruto swear to bring him back to Konoha for Sakura a few years back and he finally fulfilled his promise to her. Sadly, her heart belonged to his brother, and she was now gone.

He would never be able to tell her that he was sorry; that he would have stayed if he had known the truth all along; that he cared for her during their genin days and although he always called her annoying, he just didn't know how to return her feelings at that time. Sasuke would have told her that leaving her on that bench was the hardest thing that he had done, because by leaving her there, he was turning his back on the possibility of having a normal life.

As he continued to contemplate what his life could have been like, he noticed the bright blue eyes looking at him. Sasuke quietly said to his former teammate, "Naruto… I'm sorry."

There was a slight smile on the blonde's lips and all he said in reply was, "Teme, you are home… like Kaka-sensei used to say... we all get lost on the path of life sometimes. Sakura-chan... would have wanted you to be happy… and I guess your brother wanted that for you as well… I really am sorry."

He nodded and then looked out the window and said, "It's been an hour."

Naruto quickly got his report and said, "Let's go Sasuke."

When they got back to the Hokage tower, there was a crowd of people at the door. They looked at each other and then silently decided to just go in through the window and avoid the crowd below. As they entered the office, they noticed that Kakashi, Sai, and Yamato were already there.

Sasuke stood between Kakashi and Naruto. Sai stood to the left of Naruto and Yamato stood to Kakashi's right.

The woman before them was silently reading the scrolls that had already been placed on her desk. Her eyes would widen and then narrow in certain parts of their reports. She was trying to piece together what happened and when she was done she looked at the men before her and said, "I want to start by saying that I feel your pain at the loss of a beautiful sweet girl who I considered a daughter. I will miss her dearly and I will begin the planning of… of her memorial services." There was a long pause and she continued, "If there is anything that you wish to say or if you know of a specific request that she had, now is the time to say it."

Kakashi lowered his head, Naruto ran his hands through his hair, Yamato shook his head slightly and Sai merely closed his eyes. Sasuke stayed quiet the whole time but when the Hokage looked at him, he shook his head and looked away.

Tsunade continued, "In regards to the thing with the Uchiha clan, and the one named Madara, I will continue to investigate it. What I am about to say is classified and will not leave this room until we have come to a final decision. Uchiha Sasuke, come here."

The younger Uchiha came up to her desk and looked at her.

She said, "You left your village, joined Orochimaru and committed some crimes while you were rogue. I will come up with an appropriate punishment for you, if you have decided to stay here and one day rejoin our ranks. Now as to having to deal with the council about your unique situation… I need for this to go to the clan heads. The council is involved in this and we either expose the truth, or you accept that your brother followed a legitimate order and there are no consequences for their actions. I have personally gone down to the Archives and searched for the scrolls that might have linked them in any way to the elimination of the Uchiha clan. We can go back and look at the evidence and see if there was anything that was missed and I believe that we can clear your brother's name. Will you accept your punishment and any conditions that I set for you Sasuke? In return I will do everything in my power to clear all of this up."

Sasuke spoke up, "Hokage-sama, I will accept any punishment that you deem fit. As long as my brother's name is cleared, I don't care what gets exposed. The sins of my clan were on my brother's shoulders for far too long, it is time to expose everyone involved. As for me returning to your ranks…" Naruto looked at him with a hopeful look, "I will accept and follow any requirements that you set forth. To show my willingness to… change, I will show you several of Kabuto and Orochimaru's techniques that I learned while I was with them. I will admit that some are not in accordance to your ethical standards but they do the job."

Tsunade nodded once and said, "For now I will place you on house arrest since you willingly gave yourself up, have cooperated with us, and have not resisted. Since you didn't attack any Leaf shinobi directly, and in these reports it says that you killed Deidara, a missing nin from Iwa, I might be able to get around you going to prison for the time being. You will either stay with Naruto or you can have two ANBU guards follow you everywhere until I come up with a punishment. You are not allowed to leave the village and you will be required to wear chakra limiters for the time being."

Naruto said, "He can stay with me, Baa-chan."

Sasuke nodded once and then looked at Tsunade and said, "I accept."

Tsunade wrote a couple of things down on a scroll and then said, "Did anyone know about the relationship between Sakura and Itachi?"

They all shook their heads and Kakashi gritted his teeth.

She then said, "No one will find out about the relationship between those two until we clear all of this up. You were her teammates and he was your brother, when you guys are ready you will be able to tell her friends if you so wish. I will be watching each one of you and I expect you to come in to see me or Shizune until we give you the all clear, I don't want any arguments about this. You have all gone through a traumatic experience and I would be spitting on my student's memory if you lost it and harmed yourself, or others, because of this. She would not have wanted that, she loved you guys too much for me to allow that to happen. When Sakura first came to me she was lost and without her teammates, but she asked me to train her because ,even though you all were gone, she wanted to get stronger to be able to protect and heal you. If you loved her…. like I do… Please comply with this policy, she was the one that wrote it and implemented it. Until then you guys are to stay in the village."

Kakashi kept looking at the floor; he refused for anyone to see him break down anymore. He bowed to his leader and then poofed out of the office, a sudden idea invading his thoughts. Yamato did the same but only after assuring Tsunade that he would look out for him for the next couple of days. Naruto and Sasuke bowed and she walked up to the Uchiha and took off the chakra chains but told him to show her his arms. She formed some seals and then placed her palms on the insides of his wrists and placed a seal to limit his chakra to 50%. She said, "I don't have to remind you of the sacrifices that your teammates have had to endure to get you back home. Don't ruin all of their work… all of her work… for revenge, I will help you set things right once more."

He nodded and then bowed to her as Naruto opened the window to get them home.

She looked at Sai and said, "I will inform her friends myself, you guys have been through enough." The young artist bowed and said, "Thank you Hokage-sama."

As she was left alone once more she went to the drawer and pulled out a bottle of saké. She looked at the bottle and then picked it up and threw it at the wall. Her student wouldn't have wanted her to drown herself in drink. She yelled at her ANBU guards to gather Sakura's friends and to pull Shizune from hospital duty and get her here immediately.

Tsunade wanted to mourn but right now she needed to be the Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, she needed to be strong for the young men and women that will receive the news that their friend was gone. She would mourn her daughter's loss in the privacy of her own home. Right now she would have to prepare the memorial service and it killed her to have to be the one to say goodbye.

A few minutes later a group of young men and women came into the office with questioning looks on their faces and obviously worried about what was going to be said. There were only few occasions when a large group of shinobis were summoned to the Hokage's office at one time.

She looked up at them and asked them to close the doors. Tsunade closed her eyes and mentally prepared herself for what she had to tell them.

Cries of anguish and grief filled the room and it took them a long time before anyone of them left the office. Most were comforting each other. Hinata was carried by her teammate Kiba back to the Hyuga compound. Ino had to be sedated and Choji carried her in his arms towards her home, Shikamaru following closely behind them. Neji, Lee and Tenten left as a group, with Lee being held close by both Tenten and Neji. Tsunade had to call Genma to come and get Shizune. She was too distraught to be left alone.

Gai bounded into her office as Genma and Shizune were leaving. He had run into his former students and ran towards the Hokage tower to see about his best friend. Tsunade said, "Gai, keep an eye on that man. I am worried about him more than anyone else. Yamato is keeping an eye on him, but with his history… I don't know if he will be able to stay sane for long."

Gai walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "I am truly sorry for your loss Hokage-sama. I know that Sakura meant the world to you… she will be missed by all, more than half of Konoha owes her their lives. She was a wonderful medic and a beautiful person inside and out."

She nodded and then looked away.

As Gai left, she fell to the floor and cried and pleaded to any god listening to bring back her daughter, to take her but to bring Sakura back. She had been too young, not known the love of a man, and had so much more to do with her life. That night Tsunade swore to never have a drop of sake in her life in memory of the young pink haired kunoichi who softened her heart and surpassed her in so many ways.

* * *

Yamato was outside Kakashi's apartment when Gai arrived. The Green Beast placed an arm on the young captain and said, "Yamato, I am truly sorry for your loss. Sakura was a great person." Yamato nodded but continued to look at the now darkened windows of the small apartment.

Gai leaned in and said, "How is he doing? Has he left?"

Yamato whispered to Gai, "He is there, but I am worried that he will do something stupid the moment I leave. He took it the hardest. I think that Kakashi might have had started to have feelings for her. I know that he never tried anything… he was worried that he was too damaged for her… that she deserved better, but now with all of this… I don't know how he will handle it."

Gai nodded but said nothing. He had noticed the change in Kakashi the last few weeks as well, and now that Yamato mentioned it, he remembered how close the pair had become as of recently. He had known Kakashi for so long and he had never seen him like this around a woman.

They decided to go and knock on the door, even though Kakashi probably sensed them the instant they turned on his street.

Yamato knocked on the door…. nothing… he knocked again… a slight flare of chakra responded from inside.

Gai turned the doorknob and was surprised that the door was open. Kakashi was deadly when pissed off and a very skilled shinobi who could take on any opponent, no one would be stupid enough to ever try to break into his house, but he always locked his doors because he treasured his privacy. They both walked into the small apartment and noticed that the lights were all off and a lone figure sat on the floor by one of the windows. Kakashi was looking out the window of the now darkening sky. His gaze was fixed on the moon. He still had his jonin pants on and his undershirt, but his mask was thrown to the side, along with his hitai-ate and gloves.

Yamato and Gai approached him slowly and when they were a few feet away he looked up at them. Grey and crimson eyes looked straight at them as he said, "Sakura is not gone… I can feel her… I have sent my ninken to search for her."

Yamato couldn't say anything… Gai's heart clenched at the sight of his friend broken and openly grieving.

Kakashi got up and looked at both men and said, "Guys… I'm alright… I know that Sakura is alive… she is not gone, I can feel it in here." He touched his heart and was about to mention that Itachi wouldn't have been stupid enough to not have attempted to escape with her if he had the chance, but with Gai there he had to keep his mouth shut.

Gai looked worried, and Yamato was trying to piece together what Kakashi must have already figured out. Hatake Kakashi wasn't called a genius for nothing.

* * *

A/N: What's to come in the next chapter? Kakashi has his suspicions although they all think that he has lost it completely. Who will figure this out next? Sorry for such a sad chapter, too much grief.

I have a final tomorrow and thursday so I should be updating more quickly from now on. Don't know how many more chapters I can fit into this story because I feel the ending coming soon. Don't know if I should make a sequel or just write the epilogue that I had planned from the beginning. Any suggestions?


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 14

* * *

The sun was shining, on this crisp winter morning. There was a peaceful silence as Kakashi walked outside towards the gates of Konoha.

He smiled and waved at the guards at the gate as he strolled out towards the edge of the forest. Kotetsu and Izumo looked at each other and sadly waved the Copy Ninja on through. Izumo sighed and said, "He's still in denial…" Kotetsu shook his head and sent a message to Yamato, informing him of Kakashi's whereabouts.

The silver-haired ninja walked into the forest until he came to a clearing where he summoned his pack again and asked Pakkun how the search was going.

The small pug said, "Boss we have all been searching for the last couple of days. It's as if she vanished into thin air. There was no residual chakra from either of them at the field they disappeared. If they had perished in an explosion, we would have found a trace by now. You might be onto something, she might be alive..."

Kakashi knelt and scratched the top of the small dog's head and said, "Keep looking Pakkun. If anyone can find her it's you and the rest of the pack."

Pakkun nodded and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi went back to the gate and said to Kotetsu and Izumo, "See you guys tomorrow."

They both waved back and Izumo said, "Kakashi, are you going to the…. you know...Sakura's mem-"

Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke before Izumo could finish his sentence. He refused to accept that she was gone.

* * *

The memorial service was finally being held today. Tsunade had to postpone the memorial services because of the investigation into the Uchiha Clan and the Council's involvement. Sasuke's arrival had created such an uproar that the council, clan heads, ANBU and Senior Jonin officials all called for immediate answers and investigations into the matter. She had no choice but to make certain people aware of the situation and the council members quickly tried to hide everything under a rug before anyone else looked too much deeper into it.

Sasuke had stood silent, but Naruto was the one to outright accuse them of ordering an entire clan to be wiped out, including innocent people who had nothing to do with the coup d'état, just to maintain power and hide it from the other clans. He was very vocal about how the decision of four people affected the entire village and called for reform on some of the governmental policies.

Shikamaru had seconded that notion and said that if this village was to move forward they should learn from the mistakes of the past and not hide them. Shikamaru stood by his father and said that Konoha was founded by many clans, not just one, and the reason for its power was the cooperation of its shinobis as a whole.

Hinata stood next to Naruto and held his hand as she said that each clan's talents helped the village and they shouldn't have one clan be singled out or seen as better or worse than the others. She knew all too well about how thoughts of superiority could change a persons view on people and life in general. She wished for her clan to embrace this change and have something good come out of all of this hurt.

The clan heads had been outraged when it came to light about the decision to wipe out a clan without consulting the other clan heads.

Nara Shikaku was the first to point out that if the other clan heads would have been made aware, another solution could have been sought out, and the fate's of Itachi, Sasuke, and the rest of the Uchiha clan might have been different. He believed that since a coup d'état affected the entire village it should have been something that should have been consulted with the clan heads, along with the council, and the Hokage.

Now that Sasuke was the last of his clan, his kekkei genkai would have to be protected and he would have to someday revive his clan. The Sharingan was a powerful asset to Konoha and they all agreed that it should be kept within the village.

Sasuke's trial and punishment was going to be decided by the clan heads and Tsunade, but for now he was allowed to stay within the gates of Konoha and wear his chakra limiters.

For the last week he attended the trials and investigatory meetings held at the Hokage tower. His presence was felt by every clan head and while most understood the reasons why he turned his back on the village, and felt bad for him having to suffer the consequences of other's actions, they couldn't ignore that he willingly left to seek his personal revenge.

Naruto would argue that he was a kid who was being manipulated by others and had his emotions used against him. If the truth had been known before, he probably would have taken a different course of action.

Sasuke stayed silent throughout the proceedings and accepted anything that Tsunade and the clan heads decided. He only spoke up when Itachi's name would be brought up. Sasuke wanted his brother's name cleared and both of their names taken off the Bingo Books. The investigation further showed that Itachi had been a double agent for Konoha and had supplied the Leaf with valuable information and had purposely thrown the Akatsuki off track when they were trying to abduct Naruto. In light of these revelations, Itachi's name had the approval of the clan heads to be cleared.

The old council was forced to step down during their trial and since they were not a council that Tsunade would have chosen when she accepted the office of Hokage, she asked for new council members to be nominated.

With all of those meetings finally out of the way they had managed to get everything ready for Sakura and Itachi's memorial service.

Today they would say goodbye to their friend and honor her memory. Many more would learn about Itachi's double agent status and recognize him for the loyal shinobi that he was for the Leaf.

* * *

Naruto looked at the black garments on his bed. He knew that it was traditional for him to wear it but he looked back at his closet and saw the familiar orange and black jumpsuit that Sakura had always seen him in. He took a step closer to the closet and then grabbed the orange jacket. He saw the areas where Sakura had stitched up his jacket on a mission during the summer. He remembered how she scolded him for not taking better care of his things and how she wouldn't always be there to stitch up the only articles of clothing that he ever took out on missions.

She had playfully punched him on his arm when he looked at her and said, "Come on Sakura-chan, it's my favorite jacket." She then admitted, "Don't tell anyone, or I'll kill you… but, you do look better with this one than with the orange and blue one that you used to wear as a genin."

Naruto felt his eyes sting as he ran his hands over the even stitching. Sakura had the steady, gentle hands of a surgeon and could stitch anything, whether it was with thread or chakra.

He took the jacket out and placed it on the bed next to the funerary robes that they wore during the memorial of any fallen comrade.

He sighed and made his way to his dresser to look at their genin picture.

Naruto didn't notice the dark haired man looking at him from the kitchen as he picked up the framed picture and said, "Sakura-chan, Baa-chan will be making a speech about you and teme's brother today… I hope she gets it right and makes you proud, I… I just would have wished that you would have told us about you two before… well before… I mean we would have understood… I just wanted you to be happy."

He wiped a tear from his face and then turned around to see Sasuke standing right next to him. Sasuke's Sharingan was activated and he said, "I know that she was happy with my brother…" Sasuke touched Naruto's temples before he could move away and he showed him the last moment that he saw of Sakura and Itachi. He showed them the kiss that they shared and the peaceful look in Itachi's face as he embraced her.

Sasuke took a step back and let Naruto process what he just showed him.

"Teme… you saw?... They looked… well, in love."

Sasuke nodded and said, "Naruto, have you seen Kakashi?"  
Naruto sighed and ran a hand across his hair, "Kaka-sensei hasn't been alright since that day. He has it in his head that Sakura is still alive. I want to believe him, but it's been over a week, surely Sakura would have sent a message or come back by now if she was ok."

Sasuke opened the window and said, "I'll be back, I have to check on something."

Naruto walked over to him and said, "Teme… be back for the memorial service."

The young Uchiha looked back at him and said, "I'll be there, dobe."

Sasuke took to the rooftops and began to search for his former sensei.

The Uchiha spread his senses and searched for Kakashi's chakra signature.

He ran through half of Konoha and then finally felt the familiar spark of chakra that belonged to the Copy Ninja.

Sasuke found Kakashi perched on a tree outside an apartment complex. He was looking towards an empty window with a forlorn look on his masked face.

Kakashi stood still as his former student approached him and scooted over to make room for the Uchiha next to him on the branch.

Sasuke looked up at the silver-haired jonin and said, "You don't think that they died, huh?"

Kakashi raised and eyebrow and said, "Now why would you think that Sasuke?"

Sasuke scoffed and said, "I have replayed the last thing I saw over and over…. My brother wouldn't have given up that easily if he had found someone…. like her…"

Kakashi's jaw tightened but then he relaxed and said, "This is her apartment. I saw her one night holding onto a jeweled hairpin and… she kissed it and held it to her heart before she put it in her hair."

Sasuke silently listened to his former sensei.

"She had never done that before… I mean she was not one to buy things like that or to ever go out with anyone… She… I told her that she needed to enjoy life, not get caught up in ANBU. Naruto told her too. We just wanted her to be happy. She was always working at the hospital or going out on missions."

Kakashi tore his gaze from the window and looked at Sasuke and said, "You know she did it for you."

Sasuke looked confused and raised his eyebrow and Kakashi continued, "She only wanted to get strong enough to get you back, to free Naruto of his promise to bring you back. She always believed that you thought her to be weak and she wanted to prove you wrong."

Sasuke looked down, he knew that if he didn't witness his own brother die in front of him and Sakura work on him relentlessly to get him back, he would have still thought of her as weak.

Kakashi chuckled and said as he looked back at Sakura's apartment, "After this one mission she came back and wanted to spar with me with katanas. I thought it odd that I recognized Itachi's fighting stance. I brushed it off as a coincidence, but she was amazing. She took to your brother's fighting style like it was her own natural style. I'm guessing that Itachi recognized her own strength and made her aware of how powerful she was… If your brother is the same man that I used to work with in ANBU, he wouldn't have given up… he would have found a way out, and taken his most precious person with him. I know that they are still alive. Both of them wouldn't have given up if they finally found someone that they wanted to be with."

Kakashi then said just above a whisper, _"I wouldn't have given her up either."_

Sasuke then looked at Kakashi and said, "I won't give up looking for them either. I know my brother is not gone. He found a way out before the explosions hit. I know him… he showed me everything he thought and felt since the Kyuubi attack. I have replayed his words over and over. He was trying to prepare me and to let me... take over where he left off. I know that they are alive too."

Kakashi sighed and said, "I know… Look… there on Sakura's dresser… She took the picture of her parents and of Team 7. All of her other pictures are still on her walls, the only two that are not in her home are the only two that mattered to her. They must have had a plan of some sorts."

Sasuke clenched his fists. He wasn't sure if to be happy or angry of the possibility that they faked their deaths…. In the end he decided that for once he would put his brother's happiness above his own. If his brother was alive somewhere he would be happy for him, but he swore that he would find him.

They stood there in silence for a few more minutes and then Sasuke said, "I'll be going… today is Sakura and Itachi's…" He looked up at the man standing next to him and the pained expression on his face made him stop. He simply just said, "I'll see you around, Kakashi. Oh and I'll let you know if I find anything."

Sasuke left his former sensei and went back to Naruto's apartment to change.

When he got to the apartment, Naruto had already left.

Sasuke changed into the black uniform that they only wore during funerals. He knew that this wasn't necessary as both Itachi and Sakura must still be alive, but…. Naruto asked him too.

He had always been so consumed with hate and revenge that he really wasn't sure what he was feeling now.

He remembered what Itachi said: "_You know nothing, but I will set you free little brother."; "You are almost free little brother."; "I am sorry, brother... for everything, I cannot atone for my sins and will always be deserving of your hatred, but I can no longer see the person who has been more important than anything else destroy himself."; "I need for you to be prepared, little brother… Something is coming and you need to be prepared, be weary of Madara… or an orange masked man for that matter, trust your team, they might not be blood related but they are the ones who still believe in you and have never given up. I need to leave you these final gifts, just know that I will always be with you brother. You are free of your curse."_

Something changed inside of him after Itachi let him inside his mind. He understood his brother on a whole different level now, and although there were some days that he wanted to go back to his former self and just take vengeance against the council members, a sort of calmness came over him and he would touch the spot where Itachi placed the seal over his curse mark. Orochimaru's curse was now gone and he couldn't feel the hate that he had kept feeding his body with. He wasn't sure what his brother did, but he truly felt free of his former hate.

There was something about being inside his brother's mind that gave him a new outlook on life. He wanted to belong again. He didn't want to be alone anymore and he was being given a new chance and an opportunity to rebuild his clan. He was sure that he would certainly have his brother's ideals be the foundation of the clan and hopefully one day, Itachi could come back home as well and see where he was taking the clan. He wanted to show his older brother that his sacrifices were not without meaning, that they had truly set him free.

* * *

Sasuke approached the throng of people gathered in front of the Hokage tower. They made way for him and he was soon at the front with Naruto, who was dressed in his black pants but wore his trademark orange jacket. Yamato and Sai were there next to Naruto and they left a space for Kakashi, but they all knew that he wouldn't show up. Since both Sakura and Itachi were members of ANBU, most of the Black Ops organization lined the memorial service from the tops of the buildings. They all wanted to say goodbye to two of their own.

Tsunade stepped forward and addressed the men and women before her.

"We honor two great, and loyal shinobi of Konohagakure. It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Itachi. The status of Itachi's double agent status was not known to most, but he had been aiding our village and steering Akatsuki away while handing over great intelligence that has saved countless lives. His selfless act of willingly be labeled as a missing nin and serve our village from afar. will be remembered and honored. Sakura…"

Tsunade's voice broke at the mention of her daughter-like apprentice but she continued, "Sakura came to me as a genin asking to be trained. Her exceptional chakra control made her the perfect apprentice for my style of fighting and for medical ninjutsu. She excelled in all that I taught her and she came up with new ways to improve on my own skills. Sakura excelled at teaching others and creating new ways to help her comrades, both in the hospital and on the field. However, what she didn't know, was what she taught me. Her compassion and caring nature drove her to seek out new ways of doing things all because she wanted to protect her precious people. Never… in all the time that I knew her, did she use her skills to gain power over anyone. Their sacrifice on this last mission protected us from a threat that was unknown to us at the time. Remember Sakura when a medic nin is healing you, when someone is in need of your help, remember her compassion. Remember Itachi when you are undercover, when you feel pressured and alone while out on missions, remember his sacrifice. We will never forget them."

She looked at the faces of the shinobi gathered and her heart broke at this sight before her. They stood still, their bodies standing straight and tall, but their eyes spoke of the grief within them. Silent tears were shed by Ino and Hinata.

Sakura's team stood together, without their leader but a flash of silver caught her eye and she saw the familiar figure of Hatake Kakashi, in his ANBU gear, join the line of ANBU guards that lined the outside of the memorial service.

Tsunade understood the anonymity that ANBU provided was a comfort mechanism for the Copy Ninja and she would respect his wishes for returning to the organization for now.

They stood there in silence honoring the memory of two of Konoha's best. Tsunade then walked up to where they had set up both of their pictures and then bowed deeply. The rest of the gathered shinobi followed and without a word they all disappeared back into the village.

Such is the way of the ninja.

The next following days passed by in a blur. Kakashi had reenlisted into ANBU and was getting ready to leave on a mission. He had avoided most of his teammates after the memorial service but somehow Sasuke always found him.

When he first saw Kakashi in his ANBU uniform he just stood there and stared at him. After a few moments Sasuke said, "I will join you one day, Kakashi." Kakashi nodded and said, "I'm sure you will Sasuke."

The Uchiha then said something that surprised Kakashi, he said, "My brother looked up to you… I just didn't see that until now. I… I'm sorry."

Kakashi walked up to Sasuke and said, "When you are ready to take the ANBU trials, I'll be there."

With that he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi took off back to his apartment, he needed some air and right now the village felt like it was suffocating him.

He arrived in his apartment and took off his ANBU mask and set it on the counter. He headed to his room to start packing and froze as he felt the spike of chakra coming from his window.

A crow stood still watching his every move. There was a scroll in its beak and Kakashi felt a knot tighten in his stomach.

He approached slowly. The crow moved from the window to the top of his desk and as Kakashi held out his hand, the crow flew towards him and dropped the scroll in his hands and flew back to the window sill.

Kakashi noticed the seal and quickly released it as the scroll unrolled in his hands.

Her scent assaulted him.

Kakashi pulled down his mask and took a deep breath. He didn't want anything to come in between him and the scent that told him that she was alive and well. He knew that this was from her, from Sakura. Her scent permeated the scroll and then he caught Itachi's scent intermingle with hers.

He knew it. They were both alive.

He read:

_"Kakashi,_

_This is the first that we could get word out… I know that you and the guys must be worried about us, but we are fine. Itachi and I had some wounds that we had to deal with but we are ok. Itachi took the brunt of it and I have been working on getting him better since. Is the team ok? How is Naruto? Is Sasuke ok? Did he come back with you guys? This might have come as a shock to all of you, but I guess that there is no going back. I need for you to know the truth and assure Naruto and everyone else that we are all right. I met Itachi a few months back after a solo ANBU mission. I was hurt… I mean... I was dying and Itachi helped me. He nursed me back to health while I was unconscious and saved my life. I was surprised at first, but when he left I couldn't stop thinking why he would have helped me if he was a missing nin. I was assigned another ANBU mission and well… he save me and my teammates once more. That time I asked him why he was helping me and he said that he couldn't tell me unless I wanted to question all that I knew. When I got back to Konoha, I accidentally came across some documents from ANBU when I was in the Archives, please tell Tsunade-sama how sorry I am about that, but I looked and saw a secret mission scroll regarding Itachi and the Uchiha Massacre. I don't know how much you know but I am sure that my clever sensei could figure it out. I didn't really see or seek Itachi out, but our paths crossed again during my recon mission. He was and has been the informant that Nara Shikaku has been dealing with all of these years. Well, that is where we got to know each other better. We had plans to somehow make our relationship work but then the whole thing with the Akatsuki and Sasuke came up and we had to change plans. We never meant to leave you guys like this. I love you too much-"_

Kakashi had to put the scroll down. He needed to control his breathing. The last thing that he read was too much for him, especially written in her hand. He looked up and saw the crow looking at him intently and said to it, "You know Itachi, I know that you can see what your crows see. How could you do this to us? How could you take her from us like this? You could come back. You've been pardoned you know."

He shook his head and continued to read, _"I love you too much to have you worry about us. I found someone who completes me and I love him."_

He put down the scroll and ran his fingers through his hair and growled at the crow who stood silently watching him, "Do you understand what this is doing to me?! Aghhhh…."

He paced up and down his room, unsure if he should continue reading or burn the scroll. His heart was painfully being crushed but then again he knew that she was alive and happy. How could he be mad at her for not knowing how he felt. It's not like he ever took the opportunity to tell her while she was here.

He decided to continue reading.

_"Itachi is still recovering so I'll await Tsunade-sama's orders. You are the only person that I can trust with this scroll and I know that I can always count on you to be there for me. Please send my love to everyone and tell them not to worry._

_Love,_

_Sakura"_

On the bottom of the scroll there was a different but recognizable handwriting that could only belong to Itachi. It was neat, precise and elegant, like all that the Uchiha did.

_"Kakashi-san,_

_I am deeply sorry for the way that all of this came to light, Sakura and I did not plan it this way. I am aware that the way that we fought against Madara might have made it seem like a suicide but I can assure you that it was not our intention. Please watch over my little brother, he is still hurting and might continue to be confused about all that I showed him. I have always trusted your judgement on and off the field and I am sorry for the way that things turned out. As my captain I trusted you with my life… I should have trusted you with the truth back then, and for that I deeply apologize. I am willing to accept any punishment that Hokage-sama deems fit and will return with Sakura if that is what is required of us. My crow will stay by your side until we receive word from you._

_My sincerest apologies,_

_Uchiha Itachi"_

He looked at the crow and raised an eyebrow and said, "Stay by my side, huh? I should have my pack use you as a chew toy after how long they have been looking for your master."

He shook his head, rolled up the scroll, and headed back to the Hokage tower.

Kakashi had a feeling that he might be reassigned from his mission today.

He got his answer after handing over the scroll and standing silently as the Hokage of Konohagakure read its contents. The desk that was thrown out the window was not a good omen for the Copy Ninja.

"Hatake! When did you get this?!"

The usually calm and collected jonin replied, "Just when I got home to prepare for my mission. I came here right after."

The blond reached for her tea, she had kept her promise and not touched a drop of saké, and said, "Does anyone else know about the contents of this letter?"

"No, Hokage-sama."

"Good. Hatake you are now reassigned. I will have you and Sasuke head out and try to find Sakura and Itachi."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and said, "Will we be bringing them back?"

She thought about it for a while and she placed a silencing jutsu in the room and said, "Come here Kakashi, I have a plan…"

The Copy Ninja listened intently and approved of her plan. He raced back to his apartment to get his pack and then went to look for Sasuke.

* * *

In an old abandoned Uchiha hideaway, a pink haired kunoichi laid in the arms of her lover fast asleep. Itachi was trying to meditate to get in touch with the crow that he had sent to Konoha with Sakura's message to her former sensei, but the scent of her skin was too distracting for him to clear his thoughts.

He looked down at the soft curve of her shoulders, the way that her hair fell and covered part of her face. Her soft lips were slightly opened as she sighed and held him closer. He was completely at peace, although he was still recovering from the wounds he got from the blast. Sakura had healed him everyday and would exhaust her chakra at times, just trying to regrow cells and mend tissues.

Itachi remembered the last time that they were in the presence of her team and he knew that it looked like they had detonated themselves. When he caught her in his arms, he stopped her from performing the last seal again. She was willing to kill herself to stop Madara and she would have done it without hesitation if he hadn't caught her.

He remembered wanting to kiss her one last time before they died from his clone's explosions.

As his lips touched hers she gripped his shoulders and sighed, seeming to accept her fate. His hands flashed through a set of seals and they disappeared using Shisui's shunshun jutsu.

Sakura later told him that he had transported them to a deep part of the forest close to this Uchiha hideout before he passed out.

She only had enough chakra to haul him inside, heal the worst of the damage to save his life, before she passed out as well. The bottle of soldier pills is what kept her chakra up as she healed him for the last couple of days. He kissed the top of her head and relished in the feel of her warmth beside him. She continued to sleep and he gently traced the ANBU tattoo on her arm. Sakura snuggled closer to his chest and mumbled, "Tachi… love.. you.."

He smiled down at his lover and said, "Love… Love… you need to wake up."  
She opened her eyes and then kissed his chest right above his heart

He smiled at her and wrapped his bandaged arm around her and said "I love you Sakura."

She smiled at him and then said, "How are you feeling, does anything hurt?"  
Itachi shook his head and said, "Love you need to eat and rest. You can't rely on those soldier pills."

Sakura frowned and said, "I know but I can't leave you by yourself. You are still recovering, Itachi you had severe burns all over your body, not to mention the concussion!"

Itachi took her hand and said, "Love I can handle myself now. I feel so much better and I have recovered most of my chakra. If you want I can go hunting to get you something to eat?"

"No! No, love I will do it. You stay and rest and I will go and get some food for us. We ran out of our rations packs anyways. What if your crow comes back with a response and you are not here?"  
Itachi chuckled and then grabbed her by the waist and held her close as he kissed her jaw and said, "Go get some food, I have to look into one of the rooms in the hideout to get some things out for us."

She kissed his cheek and said, "Itachi, what do you think they will say? Do you think that they will accept us back?"

He could see the slight panic in her eyes and he held her close and said, "Whatever happens we will do it together."

She relaxed a bit and nodded before she picked her pack and headed out into the forest.

Itachi slowly got up and then went down the abandoned hallways of the Uchiha hideout. The clan had always kept money and jewels around the hideouts in case any of its clansmen ever needed it while out on long-term missions and such.

He took what he thought they would need and put it in a pack. If Konoha labeled her a missing nin he would have to make a swift get away with her. There was enough money and jewels in his pack to support them for the next six months. If he needed anymore, he could always go to the other hideouts or he could use the money that he hid from the Akatsuki.

He slowly made his way back into the main room to wait for Sakura.

He sat on the floor and began to meditate and connect his mind's eye with the crow that he had sent to Konoha.

He smiled at what he saw and relaxed a bit as he got up and made his way to the door to wait for Sakura. He could sense her already, she wasn't that far off.

He watched the tree line and then suddenly said, "I know you are there Pakkun. You can let your master know that you have found us. We will be here waiting… I think that he is already on his way… coming from the southeast."

Pakkun growled softly but accepted his answer. Sakura wasn't in any danger and he could sense that he was telling the truth.

As Pakkun left, Itachi smiled to himself and said, "I wouldn't have expected any less from you Kakashi-san."

His smile grew as he caught a flash of pink approaching with tonight's dinner.

* * *

A/N: So we are finally seeing Itachi and Sakura... I have to admit I was gonna go on a completely different direction originally, but I changed it last night and decided to go with this instead. I hope I can make this work out in the end.

More Itachi/Sakura next chapter!


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 15

* * *

That night Itachi told Sakura about most of what his crow had seen and heard. He was always one to be prepared and plan for different scenarios.

Tsunade's plan intrigued him and he had to admit that it was clever of her to keep everyone else in the dark for now, but he would leave the final decision to Sakura.

Sakura was saddened by the thought of her friends not knowing the truth about Itachi and her being alive, but she understood the reasoning behind it. Everyone believed that they had died and coming back now would only open the wound again and they would have to explain a lot of things to a lot of people.

Itachi told Sakura, "Love, most hidden villages would have updated their Bingo Books by now and they would have been notified about your supposed death."

Sakura sighed as she looked down at her lap and Itachi wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She could feel the strength and support that he was offering her.

Itachi looked at her and said, "I'm sorry love, I know that it will be hard for you to not be able to see your friends, but I am sure that Tsunade-sama has her reasons. She sent Kakashi-san and Sasuke to find us. Let's hear what she wants us to do first, before we have to worry about anything else."

She nodded and then smiled at the man before her. He seemed to calm her with just a simple look.

Sakura looked at his onyx eyes and said, "I'm going to get some fresh air."

He nodded and closed his eyes as he began to meditate and connect with his crow that was following Kakashi.

As Sakura stepped outside, she kicked some of the freshly fallen snow and made her way to the nearby river. It wasn't frozen yet and still had a strong current taking some fallen branches downstream.

She sat down on a nearby rock and began to think about what Itachi had just told her. His crow gave Kakashi the scroll and he had taken it to Tsunade, just like she thought. What she wasn't expecting was for everyone to think that they were dead.

The guilt flooded her and she could imagine how hard her friends might have taken the news.

In all honesty she was terrified that her friends wouldn't understand her relationship with Itachi.

Sakura was anxious when Itachi told her that Kakashi was coming, she knew in her heart that her former sensei cared for her, she just didn't want to cause him any more pain. He had lost his teammates once, she couldn't begin to think what he must have felt when they appeared to have killed themselves in order to defeat the orange masked nin.

Her thoughts then drifted to Sasuke.

Naruto and her had searched for him for so many years and although she didn't hold the same love that she once did, he was an integral part in her own search for her true self. If it wasn't for Sasuke, she wouldn't have wanted to get stronger and focus more on her career. Sakura wasn't sure how she felt about having Sasuke confront her and Itachi after their last encounter. She didn't know him anymore, he wasn't the same and she wasn't sure if he would even accept her and Itachi's relationship.

Her body began to feel the chill from the winter winds and she made her way back into the Uchiha hideout.

Itachi felt her approaching and attempted to get up, but she was already inside the door. When she saw him, she ran to his side and then said, "Itachi, your wounds haven't healed completely yet, the new skin is still tender and can tear easily. Please rest my love."

He smiled and held her hand and said, "Sakura are you still troubled?"

She was surprised and said, "What? I mean, I'm ok... I just needed to clear my thoughts. I was prepared to say goodbye to my friends... I just didn't think that they would think that I was dead. I was even ready to become a missing nin for our relationship to work..."

He interrupted her, "I would have never asked you to do that for me, you know I would have found another way."

She held his hand and said, "I know Itachi, I know..."

She caressed his cheek and sighed, "but you know that I would do just about anything to be with you."

He gave her a heart-melting smile and said, "Forever?"

She kissed him sweetly and said, "Yes, forever."

He slipped a ring on her finger and said, "Then will you honor me by becoming my wife?"

She looked at the exquisite ruby set on a simple silver band. Sakura was left speechless and could only look into the endless ocean of his onyx eyes and nod a simple yes.

He smiled and kissed her with all the unspoken emotions that ran through the both of them. He could feel the tears coming from Sakura as she clung to him and finally whispered in between kisses, "I love you Itachi. Yes, yes I'll marry you!"

His heart soared at her words and he mentally thanked whoever left that ring among the jewelry hidden in the hideout.

He rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes as he said, "Thank you love... I swear on my life that I will do everything in my power to make you happy."

She sighed and then said, "Itachi, as long as I'm by your side I will be happy. You're right... whatever comes our way, we will face it together."

As night enveloped them, Itachi held Sakura close to his chest and kissed the shell of her ear. He kissed his way down her jaw line and caused shivers to run down her spine. Sakura arched into his touch and he slowly worked his hands under her shirt, tugging the fabric free. She craved his touch and wished to explore every inch of his body. It had been too long since they lost themselves in each other.

Her touch burned the newly formed skin along his arms and back but he didn't care, her kisses quelled the immense fire burning deep within him.

He needed her... he needed to feel her warmth and her love.

Itachi was as gentle with her as their first night together, but there was so much more emotion between them that bound them in a very different and new way.

She would be his bride... his one and only... the woman who he would give up everything for... the future mother to his children.

Her soft moans were the most heavenly sound to his ears. He slowly traced each of her curves, eliciting a small gasp with each kiss he left. She held on to his shoulders as he entered her and whispered his name as a soft prayer. Emerald eyes met a flash of crimson as Itachi memorized her body once more. She met each of his thrusts while running her fingers through his silken black hair.

Itachi blocked out the pain from his sore muscles and newly healed skin as he watched his lover become undone and fall into a blissful climax, he wasn't far behind. Sakura had tears escape her eyes due to the sheer intensity of their combined orgasm.

Itachi swore that Sakura's tears resembled small diamonds, he kissed each one as they ran down her cheeks; it was an image that would forever be burned into his mind.

Itachi had never imagined that he would deserve such a pure love, but he thanked the gods for allowing him to cross her path. Sakura slowly closed her eyes as she whispered, "I will forever be by your side Itachi, whether as missing nins, or back in Konoha. I will always stand by you."

He kissed the top of her head and said, "And I will stand by you."

The couple laid in each others arms and their slow even breaths were the only sound coming from the the abandoned Uchiha hideout.

* * *

Sasuke sat by the fire and looked intently at his former sensei; it was as if the man never aged.

He took in the half-lidded look of the Copy Nin, and the way that he pretended to read his ever-present _Icha Icha_ book, all the while staying on constant alert. Kakashi looked completely different in his ANBU gear, he looked colder, fierce, and powerful. Sasuke knew that he was a force to be reckoned with, although he would never admit it out loud. He wondered if his own brother looked that way, when he was in battle.

Sasuke could only remember seeing his older brother in the simple ANBU vest and black pants. Itachi never wore his mask and gloves or weapons while in the house, he said that he did it out of respect to his mother, but Itachi wanted to always keep his home as a haven from the daily demands of an ANBU captain.

The young Uchiha began to wonder what he would say to his brother when they found him. Although Sasuke wasn't aware of all the details of Tsunade's plan he was just relieved to know that Itachi was alive and Tsunade had offered them a deal. Out of all people he deserved a second chance and Sasuke was determined to make sure that his brother found happiness.

Kakashi looked at the young Uchiha and couldn't help comparing him to Itachi. While Sasuke had a darkness emit from within him, due to the situation that he was thrust upon by the village elders, Itachi shined from within the darkness around him. He remembered Itachi's apology to him in the letter, and the trust that the elder Uchiha continued to have in him.

Kakashi now knew of the extreme pressures that Itachi had to shoulder at the age of thirteen. While Kakashi had his own demons from his own childhood, he didn't have the pressures of a clan to have to add as well. He wished that things could have been different, and his students might have been spared from some of the trials that they faced at an early age. He could distinctly remember that Sasuke was once a very happy child who idolized his older brother. Well, one could say that he still idolized his older brother in a way, but that innocence that sparkled in the young Uchiha's eyes was extinguished long ago. Kakashi swore to himself to keep an eye on Sasuke for Itachi, and be there for him, like he was there for Itachi. He was sure that Sasuke would rise through the ranks in ANBU and would need his guidance, much like Sakura did when she first started.

Both men continued to looked at each other after some time and then Sasuke finally said, "Do you think that they will come back or take Tsunade-sama's offer?"

Kakashi looked up at Sasuke and said, "Don't know. It's up to them to decide, but I would take her offer in a heartbeat if given the chance."

Kakashi knew that what Tsunade was offering was a chance at freedom, away from any clan heads or councils. They would operate under Tsunade's personal orders and be able to live a different sort of lifestyle. It wasn't that he was envious, on the contrary, he knew that it would be hard for Sakura to leave all her friends behind, but it would greatly benefit the village if they accepted the offer.

Kakashi closed his book and said, "I'll take first watch, go ahead and get some sleep."

Sasuke nodded and then turned around to settle in for a couple of hours. His thoughts going back to his brother and a chance to finally make things right with him.

The following morning Sasuke only had to get up from his spot for Kakashi to wake up and silently prepare for their journey once more. It would be another day before they got to the hideout that Pakkun had told them Itachi and Sakura were waiting for them. It was good that Sasuke knew of this place and Kakashi could also track the scent that his ninken left.

* * *

At the hideout, Itachi and Sakura made plans for when Kakashi and Sasuke would show up. Sakura was worried about why Naruto wasn't made aware of their survival but Itachi said that he would probably make too much of a fuss for Tsunade to be able to implement her plan. Itachi assured her that he will one day find out and be able to see her once more.

She whispered into his chest, "I hope so. Naruto is like a brother to me."

Itachi then mentally added, _'He is also more of a brother to Sasuke than I ever was.'_

Sakura stood up and wrapped her arms around Itachi. He managed to ignore the pain again but Sakura knew that he overdid it last night and might have torn open some of his wounds.

She slowly removed his shirt and kept her gaze fixed on the dark endless depth of his eyes. Sakura guided him down to a sitting position and then trailed her fingers in feather light touches across his chest making her way to his back.

Sure enough he had torn some of the newly healed skin. She focused her healing chakra on his back and reknitted the tissues until his skin was smooth and flawless. Her chakra also helped the still intact skin continue to grow and become stronger. His muscles were still sore and she helped alleviate some of that soreness with her gentle touch. Most of the burns were not noticeable anymore, but the outline of where the new skin met the old was still there.

Itachi enjoyed the soft touch of Sakura's hands, but her healing chakra was a mixture of warmth spreading all over his body with a layer of coolness that calmed him and soothed not only his body but his mind and soul as well.

Itachi was so wrapped up in her healing touch that he almost missed when Kakashi and Sasuke passed the first barrier around the perimeter of the compound.

Sakura noticed it at the same time that Itachi opened his eyes and whispered, "They're here."

She stood up and handed Itachi his shirt as Sasuke and Kakashi approached the front door.

Itachi stood up from his sitting position on the floor and called out, "Come on in, the door is open."

Sasuke opened the door and walked in as Itachi was putting his shirt back on. He caught a glimpse of the healing skin on his brother's back and noticed that he immediately took Sakura's hand in his and intertwined his fingers with hers.

Kakashi noticed Itachi's actions as well and thought to himself, _'Seems like they made their choice already... let's see what they plan to do.'_

Sakura noticed that Kakashi was dressed in ANBU gear and was visibly tense when he saw the ring on her left hand.

Itachi eyed everyone carefully and then spoke, "Kakashi-san, Sasuke, please come in and rest. I am sure that your journey was long."

The young Uchiha and ANBU captain took a seat and Sakura and Itachi sat across from them.

Sakura looked at her former sensei and had a hard time reading him. She wanted to apologize to him, to hug him and tell him that she never wanted for him to find out like this, but she held back. She knew that they were here to talk about Tsunade's offer so she simply said, "We don't have much here but I can make some tea."

Kakashi gaze softened when he heard her voice and simply nodded and gave her an eye crinkling smile.

Sasuke was still looking at his brother but when Itachi slightly narrowed his eyes at his younger brother, Sasuke looked at Sakura, nodded and said, "Thank you, Sakura."

Itachi would not have his younger brother disrespect his future bride in front of him. They were Uchiha, and Mikoto had taught them both to have impeccable manners.

As Sakura left to get the tea ready, Sasuke continued to stare at his brother. Kakashi spoke up and said, "I believe that you already know why we are here."

Itachi simply nodded and looked at his former captain. Seeing him back in his ANBU gear brought back so many memories.

He closed his eyes and said, "Kakashi-san, first off, I would like to thank you for all that you have done for me and for Sakura. I meant what I said in the letter. I humbly ask for your forgiveness and if there is anything that I can do to atone for my sins, I will gladly do it."

Kakashi thought over his words and then said, "Just take care of her... Make her happy."

With those eight words Itachi immediately knew that Kakashi's feelings towards Sakura might have been more than just sensei and student. He was grateful though that Kakashi knew when to withdraw. Clearly Sakura had no idea and he would respect that. Itachi and Kakashi didn't want to cause Sakura any more pain. Itachi looked straight into Kakashi's lone grey eye and told him with just a simple nod that he would be willing to die for her, if need be.

Kakashi slowly closed his eye and gave an imperceptible nod in the elder Uchiha's direction.

Sasuke sat there looking at both of them not really following the unspoken conversation between his former sensei and older brother. When Itachi looked at him, Sasuke was not sure what his brother's calm features were trying to tell him.

Itachi smiled at his younger brother and said, "How are you doing? How are things back in Konoha?"

Sasuke inwardly sneered at the loaded question but kept his features as stoic as possible and responded with, "I'm doing fine. Both of our names have been cleared and everyone knows the truth about the massacre. The 'Elders' were disgraced and the clan heads have removed them from power..." After staying silent for a minute, Sakura came in with a tray and some tea. Sasuke continued as she handed him a cup and then handed one to Kakashi.

Sasuke looked into his cup and said, "Everyone thinks the both of you are dead..." He looked at Sakura and said, "Naruto misses you... I've been staying with him and although he was initially shocked about you and... my brother... he says that he would have understood... He just wanted you to be happy."

Sakura's eyes began tear up and Itachi instinctively reached for her hand to comfort her. Sasuke continued after looking at the interaction between his brother and Sakura. Sasuke whispered, "He has Hinata. He isn't alone."

She looked up at him and gave her former teammate a small smile. She understood what he was trying to do and she was grateful.

Kakashi then took out a scroll from his pouch and handed it to Sakura. Their fingertips brushed as they passed the document between each other, Kakashi felt the familiar spark that always coursed through his body when Sakura was near but he buried that feeling deep down. He clearly saw that he never had a chance. Kakashi quickly pulled back and held his tea cup with both hands.

Sakura took the scroll and sat down next to Itachi so the both of them could read it.

After releasing the seal in the scroll Sakura's eyes grew wide and she looked up ever so often to gauge Kakashi's reaction.

They finished reading and put the scroll down and Itachi held Sakura's hand as she said, "Is Tsunade-sama serious?"

Kakashi said, "The decision is yours to take. This is a once in a lifetime offer and although there are some sacrifices, it will give you the best of both worlds."

Sakura held the scroll to her chest, thinking about what she and Itachi had just been offered. Sasuke was still in the dark about the fine details of the offer and Itachi picked up on this right away.

He looked at his younger brother and said, "Sasuke, Kakashi-san, if you could excuse us for a moment. I believe that Sakura and I need to talk things over."

He held out his hand for her to take and they both exited the hideout to go talk by the edge of the river.

As soon as they got there, Sakura wrapped her arms around him and said, "Itachi... We could do this. Naruto will eventually find out and we can still be of use to the village."

He looked down at her and was entranced in her deep emerald eyes, there was no way that he could deny her anything. Itachi said, "Ok love. We will agree to this plan."

The couple went back inside hand in hand, they had many things to talk about with their new team.

* * *

A/N: I want to apologize for the long wait. I was out of the US and well… things happened and I needed surgery. I'm finally better, glad to be back in the States and here is what I came up with while I was in a painkilling stupor. Sorry for any mistakes, haven't really been myself these last couple of weeks.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 16

* * *

_7 Years Later…._

Sakura looked out the window of her home. She observed her husband patiently explain his technique to their son on how to throw multiple kunai to several different targets at the same time. Their son, Akihiko, had awakened his Sharingan last summer at the age of six when he had to witness the birth of his sister, Natsuko.

Itachi had gone to deliver the intelligence that he had gathered from enemies in Sound to Sasuke's ANBU team and had to leave Sakura by herself with Akihiko during her eighth month of her pregnancy. She had assured Itachi that she would be fine since she had four more weeks to go and Sasuke would meet him in their usual rendezvous point that wasn't too far from their home.

No more than a week's worth of travel, was all that Itachi was going to be gone, but on the third night Sakura went into labor. Sakura didn't have a chance to call for Tsunade, like she did with her son, and she knew that she would have to act quickly.

Akihiko was the only one there and he witnessed his mother labor and give birth alone in their home. Sakura had tried to stay as calm as possible that night, and do what she knew had to be done so that Akihiko wouldn't be scared. Her son however, was just as smart as his parents and knew that something was wrong when he saw the pained expression on his mother's face and the beads of sweat on her brow. He was focused on helping his mother and making her feel better and didn't notice the surging emotions flowing deep inside him. As he heard Sakura cry out in pain he quickly got the things that she asked for and helped in any way that he could.

His little hands were the one's to carry the towels to his mother and bring in fresh water for her to clean off the blood. Akihiko was the one to hand over the soft pink blanket that was wrapped around his sister's tiny body.

Sakura was so proud of her son on how he handled himself. He was after-all, the true heir to the Uchiha clan, and was the spitting image of his father. They both shared the same Uchiha onyx hair and eyes, soft light skin, and striking features, but her son wore his hair short on the back and his bangs long on the front. Sakura knew that their son would grow up to be a fine shinobi one day. Akihiko not only shared his father's skills, but also his calm and collected temper and pacifistic views.

He was also so protective of his little sister that the night that Itachi came home, Akihiko's crimson eyes stared at his father as he stood guard outside of his mother's door. Itachi had been so surprised, that he slowly knelt beside his son and asked him what had happened. Akihiko said, "Dad… Mom had my baby sister three days ago… you weren't here so… I had to protect them. They're sleeping right now."

Itachi smiled and said, "Son have you been guarding them through the night?"

Akihiko nodded and said, "I had to… umm… Dad...?"

"Yes, son?" Itachi looked at his son, waiting for the question that he knew would be asked.

"Dad… My eyes… Is it normal for them to burn?"

Itachi activated his own Sharingan and looked at his son and said, "Son… when you feel that you are in danger, or more importantly, when you feel that you need to protect someone important to you… your eyes will activate the Sharingan. I know that you have the same chakra control as your mother, so you will have no problem knowing how to control it. I'm proud of you, Akihiko. You were there for your mother and sister when I couldn't… and for that I will never be able to thank you enough."

Akihiko held his father's hand and slowly opened the door to his parent's bedroom where Sakura and little Natsuko were sleeping.

Itachi gently kissed his wife's forehead and then gently caressed his daughter's cheek. That night father and son guarded their home, and that morning Itachi sent one of his crows to Konoha to inform the Hokage of the Leaf of the birth of Uchiha Natsuko.

Within five days, Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi and Tsunade, arrived at the secluded home of the young Uchiha family to see the newborn babygirl. Naruto had been overjoyed to know that he was an uncle once more, and as the new Hokage he quickly came up with a reason to have him and his closest advisors go on a 'classified' mission to one of their most trusted intelligence agents.

That was a year ago and Akihiko was already proficient in the trademark fire style jutsu of the Uchiha and had exceptional control of chakra with sufficient knowledge in medical ninjutsu. He had been adamant about Sakura teaching him basic medical skills in case his little sister ever needed help. He had the same fierce protective instincts like his father and Sakura wasn't able to say no to her son's request. For someone of his age, Akihiko was already able to have had graduated from the Academy back in Konoha, but he was homeschooled and learned all of his shinobi skills from his parents.

A smile always came to Sakura's face when Akihiko mastered a skill, so seeing him hit nine of the twelve targets on his first try impressed Sakura and Itachi to no end.

As Sakura prepared dinner she called Itachi and Akihiko back into the house and settled in for the evening. Tomorrow they would set out with their son to the rendezvous point to meet with Sasuke and Kakashi to deliver some intelligence that Itachi had collected on his last mission. There had been some rumors that a certain masked nin had resurfaced and had taken over Akatsuki. Akihiko didn't know that Kakashi would also be administering a test, and when he passed, he would receive his official Konoha hitai-ate and rank of genin.

For the time being, Naruto wanted to continue to keep the couple in hiding because the classified missions carried out by either Sakura or Itachi had benefited Konoha, and even Suna.

Many treaties signed by Naruto had been directly influenced by the information gathered by the duo.

With Akihiko surely surpassing Kakashi's expectations, Itachi and Sakura had decided to ask Sasuke to take him back to Konoha to train in a team. Since Sasuke made it a point to spend as much of his time off with his nephew and little niece, Sasuke was a frequent visitor to their home. Akihiko also idolized Kakashi, and saw him as a good mentor, and for that reason Sakura had sewn him a mask similar to her former sensei's to keep Akihiko's identity secret. She knew that many questions would be asked but she was confident in her son's ability to maintain his identity and heritage to himself.

When morning came and they were setting out on their journey, Akihiko looked back at his home and then at his parents and said, "Mother, Father… this is the first time that we are taking Natsuko with us to meet uncle Sasuke, Kakashi-san, and his team…. Is there a reason why she is coming with us?"

Sakura smiled at her husband and they both explained what would happen and where he would go if he passed the test. Their son was clever enough to piece clues together and come up with on-point conclusions and several contingency plans. Sakura smiled and thought to herself about how much Akihiko would enjoy playing shogi with Shikamaru… and even how much he would enjoy being in said genius' genin team.

After they explained everything to Akihiko the young Uchiha looked at them and then quickly walked back into the house. After a minute or two, he reemerged and had a small handmade bracelet in his hands. He walked up to Natsuko who was playing by a patch of wildflowers and sat next to her. He secured the bracelet, with a set of intricate seals that he memorized from his father, on her wrist and swore to her, "Natsuko, I promise to always take care of you and protect you… I will do my best and become the best big brother for you. I swear to come back and always watch over my little sister."

Sakura heard every word her son said and held on a bit tighter to Itachi's hand. Itachi's heart soared at his son's vow and knew exactly how he felt. He swore to himself that he would help his son keep his promise to Natsuko, no matter what.

The young family placed their hoods over their heads and wrapped their cloaks tighter around them as they jumped from tree to tree heading towards the village that they loved so much, yet could never set foot in.

Both Sakura and Itachi were grateful that Tsunade had the foresight to give their children the ability to one day openly serve the Village Hidden in the Leaves just as they continued to serve from its shadows.

* * *

A/N: And that is a wrap! It ended very differently than I originally planned, but after what I dealt with the last couple of weeks, I just wanted to finish it for all of the people who kept up with the story.


End file.
